The NBA is making its case as one of sports’ stronger television attractions.
ABC continues to see substantial ratings increases for NBA coverage. Sunday’s Lakers/Suns tilt, featuring another meeting between former teammates Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, drew a 3.8 overnight rating, up 12% from a 3.4 for Mavericks/Lakers last year.
Excluding Christmas Day games, the 3.8 overnight rating is the fourth-highest for an NBA game on ABC since the network regained the rights to NBA games in 2002. The 3.8 overnight comes just weeks after ABC drew a 5.0 for a Sunday afternoon Lakers/Cavaliers game.
Earlier Sunday, Pistons/Celtics drew a 2.8 overnight rating, up 22% from a 2.3 for Bulls/Cavaliers last year.
These numbers are especially impressive considering that these are ordinary regular season games. To put the 3.8 in perspective, the highest overnight for a regular season MLB telecast on FOX last season was a 3.4 (Yankees/Red Sox, twice) — and no regular season MLB on FOX telecast has drawn an overnight as high as 3.8 since 2005. The highest overnight for a regular season NHL game on broadcast in the past twelve years was a 2.9 for the second Winter Classic on Jan. 1.
With three NBA games hitting at least a 3.8 overnight this season, including the Dec. 25 Celtics/Lakers game, and after a 2008 that saw regular season NBA games on ABC outdraw MLB telecasts on FOX, it is not much of a stretch to say that out of the four major professional team sports (NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL), the NBA may very well be the second-biggest draw — at least during the regular season.
Highest overnight ratings for reg. season NBA games on ABC.
excluding Christmas Day games
5.0: Lakers/Cavaliers (Sun., 2/8/09, 3:30 PM ABC)
4.3: Spurs/Lakers (Sun., 4/4/04, 3:30 PM ABC)
4.2: 76ers/Lakers (Sun., 3/9/03, 3:30 PM ABC)
3.8: Lakers/Suns (Sun., 3/1/09, 3:30 PM ABC)
3.7: Spurs/Kings (Sun., 2/16/03, 3:30 PM ABC)
