Ah, COVID. When everyone was stuck in their homes and just needed something—anything—sports-related to make them feel normal. In this theory, NBA Finals viewership should have been through the roof.
It wasn’t.
The 2020 NBA “bubble” championship registers as the least-watched NBA Finals since Nielsen began tracking television audiences. Across six games, the Lakers and Heat averaged just 7.45 million viewers. That, despite Los Angeles being the second-biggest media market in the U.S.
But there’s more at play than quarantines when it comes to TV viewership. All five Finals from 2020 through 2024 rank in the bottom seven all-time for U.S. TV viewership. (And 2025’s series between the Pacers and Thunder may set a record-low, since Indiana and Oklahoma City are the 23rd- and 47th-largest in the country.)
Just a decade ago, the picture looked rosier for NBA execs. The 2010s had healthy viewing numbers; fans became accustomed to having the Heat or Cavaliers represent the Eastern Conference and the Warriors dominate the West.
Today’s TV figures are more reminiscent of the 2000s in the wake of Michael Jordan’s retirement. The Spurs, a small-market team led by uncontroversial star Tim Duncan, consistently bested the opposition. But fans didn’t show up for Spurs victories in 2003, 2005, or 2007.
It wasn’t just small-market teams that got the cold shoulder in this fallow period for fans. The 2006 Heat–Mavericks Finals and the 2009 Lakers–Magic series also ended up on our list of the 10 least-watched NBA Finals in history.
Ranking the Least-Watched NBA Finals Ever
Here is the list of the top 10 most-watched golf majors based on average U.S. viewership. The list was compiled using historical data from SportsMediaWatch and Forbes going back to 1988.
- 2020: 7.67 million, Lakers over Heat in 6
- 2007: 9.29 million, Spurs over Cavaliers in 4
- 2003: 9.82 million, Spurs over Nets in 6
- 2021: 10.13 million, Bucks over Suns in 6
- 2024: 11.3 million, Celtics over Mavericks in 5
- 2023: 11.64 million, Nuggets over Heat in 5
- 2022: 12.4 million, Warriors over Celtics in 6
- 2005: 12.62 million, Spurs over Pistons in 7
- 2006: 12.96 million, Heat over Mavericks in 6
- 2009: 14.29 million, Lakers over Magic in 5
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