NBA Finals Numbers Game

Ratings for every NBA Finals game over the past 25 years, with household viewership dating back to 1991, people 2+ viewership dating back to 2001, and adults 18-49 ratings dating back to 2001.

The 2010 Lakers/Celtics NBA Finals averaged a 10.6 rating and 18.144 million viewers on ABC, the highest rated series since 2004 (LAL/DET: 11.5) and the most-viewed since 2001 (LAL/PHI: 18.966M). The series ranked as the third-most viewed NBA Finals of the previous 20 years that did not involve Michael Jordan.

This year’s NBA Finals is a rematch of the 2006 series between the Heat and Mavericks. That series averaged an 8.5 rating and 12.972 million viewers on ABC, the top NBA Finals since 2000 that did not involve the Lakers.

The last time the Lakers were not in the NBA Finals was 2007, when the Spurs’ four-game sweep of the Cavaliers averaged a record-low 6.2 and 9.289 million viewers on ABC. The 2007 series marks the only previous appearance for Heat star LeBron James in the NBA Finals.

2007 was also the last year that NBA Finals games were not the top programs of the week on broadcast. In 2010 and 2008, Celtics/Lakers games were the top programs on broadcast TV during three consecutive weeks, while Lakers/Magic games took the top spots for two weeks in 2009.

Interestingly, the NBA did far worse relative to other broadcast TV fare during the golden age of the 1980s. Games 1 and 2 of the 1987 Lakers/Celtics NBA Finals finished #26 and #20 on broadcast, respectively, during the week of June 1-8, 1987. Among the programs to finish with better numbers that week: reruns of ALF, Newhart, Designing Women, Who’s The Boss and Growing Pains, an episode of The Days & Nights of Molly Dodd, and an NBC News special called Life in the Fat Lane.

To put that in perspective, Games 1 and 2 of the 2007 Spurs/Cavaliers series ranked #9 and #15 for the week, respectively.

2010

LAKERS 4, CELTICS 3
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs (000)	Viewers (000)	A18-49
1	Thu., 6/3/10	BOS 89, LAL 102	ABC	8.6	9,910	14,088	5.7
2	Sun., 6/6/10	BOS 103, LAL 94	ABC	9.2	10,545	15,718	6.5
3	Tue., 6/8/10	LAL 91, BOS 84	ABC	9.6	10,997	15,959	6.7
4	Thu., 6/10/10	LAL 89, BOS 96	ABC	9.9	11,321	16,371	6.6
5	Sun., 6/13/10	LAL 86, BOS 92	ABC	10.8	12,368	18,654	7.2
6	Tue., 6/15/10	BOS 67, LAL 89	ABC	10.4	11,956	17,960	7.1
7	Thu., 6/17/10	BOS 79, LAL 83	ABC	15.6	17,944	28,203	11.4

2009

LAKERS 4, MAGIC 1
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs (000)	Viewers (000)	A18-49
1	Thu., 6/4/09	ORL 75, LAL 100	ABC	7.8	8,911	13,042	5.4
2	Sun., 6/709	ORL 96, LAL 101	ABC	8.2	9,388	14,061	5.8
3	Tue., 6/9/09	LAL 104, ORL 101	ABC	8.6	9,804	14,196	5.9
4	Thu., 6/11/09	LAL 99, ORL 91	ABC	9.4	10,764	15,957	6.4
5	Sun., 6/14/09	LAL 99, ORL 86	ABC	8.0	9,104	14,171	5.7

2008

CELTICS 4, LAKERS 2
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs (000)	Viewers (000)	A18-49
1	Thu., 6/5/08	LAL 88, BOS 98	ABC	8.7	9,813	13,384	5.4
2	Sun., 6/8/08	LAL 102, BOS 108	ABC	8.5	9,543	13,499	5.5
3	Tue., 6/10/08	BOS 81, LAL 87	ABC	9.2	10,338	14,509	6.0
4	Thu., 6/12/08	BOS 97, LAL 91	ABC	8.7	9,851	13,762	5.6
5	Sun., 6/15/08	BOS 98, LAL 103	ABC	10.2	11,464	17,394	7.3
6	Tue., 6/17/08	LAL 92, BOS 131	ABC	10.7	12,085	16,879	6.9

2007

SPURS 4, CAVALIERS 0
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs (000)	Viewers (000)	A18-49
1	Thu., 6/7/07	CLE 76, SA 85	ABC	6.3	6,991	9,206	3.7
2	Sun., 6/10/07	CLE 92, SA 103	ABC	5.6	6,235	8,551	3.4
3	Tue., 6/12/07	SA 75, CLE 72	ABC	6.4	7,147	9,492	3.8
4	Thu., 6/14/07	SA 83, CLE 82	ABC	6.5	7,276	9,908	4.0

2006

HEAT 4, MAVERICKS 2
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs (000)	Viewers (000)	A18-49
1	Thu., 6/8/06	MIA 80, DAL 90	ABC	7.8	8,561	11,514	4.8
2	Sun., 6/11/06	MIA 85, DAL 99	ABC	8.0	8,804	12,410	5.3
3	Tue., 6/13/06	DAL 96, MIA 98	ABC	8.0	8,858	12,246	5.1
4	Thu., 6/15/06	DAL 74, MIA 98	ABC	7.8	8,605	11,561	4.6
5	Sun., 6/18/06	DAL 100, MIA 101	ABC	9.1	10,049	14,318	5.9
6	Tue., 6/20/06	MIA 95, DAL 92	ABC	10.1	11,090	15,710	6.5

2005

SPURS 4, PISTONS 3
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs (000)	Viewers (000)	A18-49
1	Thu., 6/9/05	DET 69, SA 84	ABC	7.2	7,862	10,569	4.4
2	Sun., 6/12/05	DET 76, SA 97	ABC	6.9	7,545	10,662	4.5
3	Tue., 6/14/05	SA 79, DET 96	ABC	7.2	7,859	10,633	4.5
4	Thu., 6/16/05	SA 71, DET 102	ABC	7.2	7,889	10,917	4.4
5	Sun., 6/19/05	SA 96, DET 95	ABC	8.4	9,168	13,091	5.5
6	Tue., 6/21/05	DET 95, SA 86	ABC	8.8	9,630	13,471	5.3
7	Thu., 6/23/05	DET 74, SA 81	ABC	11.9	13,061	18,997	7.6

2004

PISTONS 4, LAKERS 1
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs (000)	Viewers (000)	A18-49
1	Sun., 6/6/04	DET 87, LAL 75	ABC	9.8	10,639	15,360	7.0
2	Tue., 6/8/04	DET 91, LAL 99	ABC	10.7	11,563	16,129	7.0
3	Thu., 6/10/04	LAL 68, DET 88	ABC	10.5	11,412	16,213	7.0
4	Sun., 6/13/04	LAL 80, DET 88	ABC	12.7	13,749	20,295	9.1
5	Tue., 6/15/04	LAL 87, DET 100	ABC	13.8	14,941	21,843	9.4

2003

SPURS 4, NETS 2
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs (000)	Viewers (000)	A18-49
1	Wed., 6/4/03	NJ 89, SA 101	ABC	6.4	6,793	9,604	4.0
2	Fri., 6/6/03	NJ 87, SA 85	ABC	5.2	5,601	8,058	3.3
3	Sun., 6/8/03	SA 84, NJ 79	ABC	7.0	7,510	10,756	4.4
4	Wed., 6/11/03	SA 76, NJ 77	ABC	6.6	7,039	9,659	4.2
5	Fri., 6/13/03	SA 93, NJ 83	ABC	6.2	6,593	9,308	3.8
6	Sun., 6/15/03	NJ 77, SA 88	ABC	7.5	8,032	11,570	5.0

2002

LAKERS 4, NETS 0
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs (000)	Viewers (000)	A18-49
1	Wed., 6/5/02	NJ 94, LAL 99	NBC	10.6	11,217	15,850	6.9
2	Fri., 6/7/02	NJ 83, LAL 106	NBC	9.1	9,570	14,046	5.8
3	Sun., 6/9/02	LAL 106, NJ 103	NBC	10.2	10,796	16,209	—
4	Wed., 6/12/02	LAL 113, NJ 107	NBC	10.8	11,380	16,560	7.3

2001

LAKERS 4, SIXERS 1
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs (000)	Viewers (000)	A18-49
1	Wed., 6/6/01	PHI 107, LAL 101	NBC	12.4	12,657	18,577	8.8
2	Fri., 6/8/01	PHI 89, LAL 98	NBC	11.6	11,885	18,719	8.5
3	Sun., 6/10/01	LAL 96, PHI 91	NBC	12.7	13,025	20,280	9.5
4	Wed., 6/13/01	LAL 100, PHI 86	NBC	12.6	12,833	19,972	9.0
5	Fri., 6/15/01	LAL 108, PHI 96	NBC	11.2	11,415	17,356	7.3

2000

LAKERS 4, PACERS 2
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs
1	Wed., 6/7/00	IND 87, LAL 104	NBC	10.5	10.56M
2	Fri., 6/9/00	IND 104, LAL 111	NBC	9.9	10.02M
3	Sun., 6/11/00	LAL 91, IND 100	NBC	10.7	10.84M
4	Wed., 6/14/00	LAL 120, IND 118	NBC	13.1	13.17M
5	Fri., 6/16/00	LAL 87, IND 120	NBC	10.0	10.04M
6	Mon., 6/19/00	IND 111, LAL 116	NBC	14.7	14.85M

1999

SPURS 4, KNICKS 1
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs	Viewers
1	Wed., 6/16/99	NY 77, SA 89	NBC	11.5	11.4M	16.57M
2	Fri., 6/18/99	NY 67, SA 80	NBC	9.6	9.5M	13.98M
3	Mon., 6/21/99	SA 81, NY 89	NBC	12.1	12.0M	17.01M
4	Wed., 6/23/99	SA 96, NY 89	NBC	12.0	11.9M	16.76M
5	Fri., 6/25/99	SA 78, NY 77	NBC	11.0	10.9M	15.53M

1998

BULLS 4, JAZZ 2
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs
1	Wed., 6/3/98	CHI 85, UTA 88	NBC	18.0	17.6M
2	Fri., 6/5/98	CHI 93, UTA 88	NBC	16.6	16.2M
3	Sun., 6/7/98	UTA 54, CHI 96	NBC	16.2	15.8M
4	Wed., 6/10/98	UTA 82, CHI 86	NBC	19.1	18.7M
5	Fri., 6/12/98	UTA 83, CHI 81	NBC	19.8	19.4M
6	Sun., 6/14/98	CHI 87, UTA 86	NBC	22.3	21.8M

1997

BULLS 4, JAZZ 2
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs
1	Sun., 6/1/97	UTA 82, CHI 84	NBC	15.8	15.3M
2	Wed., 6/4/97	UTA 85, CHI 97	NBC	15.1	14.6M
3	Fri., 6/6/97	CHI 93, UTA 104	NBC	14.2	13.7M
4	Sun., 6/8/97	CHI 73, UTA 78	NBC	16.9	16.4M
5	Wed., 6/11/97	CHI 90, UTA 88	NBC	20.1	19.5M
6	Fri., 6/13/97	UTA 86, CHI 90	NBC	18.5	17.9M

1996

BULLS 4, SUPERSONICS 2
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs
1	Wed., 6/5/96	SEA 90, CHI 107	NBC	16.8	16.1M
2	Fri., 6/7/96	SEA 88, CHI 92	NBC	13.9	13.3M
3	Sun., 6/9/96	CHI 108, SEA 86	NBC	15.8	15.2M
4	Wed., 6/12/96	CHI 86, SEA 107	NBC	18.1	17.4M
5	Fri., 6/14/96	CHI 78, SEA 89	NBC	17.2	16.5M
6	Sun., 6/16/96	SEA 75, CHI 87	NBC	18.8	18.0M

1995

ROCKETS 4, MAGIC 0
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs	A18-49
1	Wed., 6/7/95	HOU 120, ORL 118	NBC	14.7	14.0M	9.6
2	Fri., 6/9/95	HOU 117, ORL 106	NBC	12.0	11.4M	8.5
3	Sun., 6/11/95	ORL 103, HOU 106	NBC	14.1	13.4M	9.7
4	Wed., 6/14/95	ORL 101, HOU 113	NBC	14.9	14.2M	9.8

1994
* Game 5 was affected by NBC coverage of the O.J. Simpson chase.

ROCKETS 4, KNICKS 3
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs
1	Wed., 6/8/94	NY 78, HOU 85	NBC	12.6	11.9M
2	Fri., 6/10/94	NY 91, HOU 83	NBC	10.7	10.1M
3	Sun., 6/12/94	HOU 93, NY 89	NBC	12.4	11.7M
4	Wed., 6/15/94	HOU 82, NY 91	NBC	12.9	12.1M
5	Fri., 6/17/94*	HOU 84, NY 91	NBC	7.8	—
6	Sun., 6/19/94	NY 84, HOU 86	NBC	11.3	10.6M
7	Wed., 6/22/94	NY 84, HOU 90	NBC	17.9	16.9M

1993

BULLS 4, SUNS 2
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs
1	Wed., 6/9/93	CHI 100, PHX 92	NBC	16.8	15.6M
2	Fri., 6/11/93	CHI 111, PHX 108	NBC	14.6	13.6M
3	Sun., 6/13/93	PHX 129, CHI 121	NBC	17.0	15.8M
4	Wed., 6/16/93	PHX 105, CHI 111	NBC	19.8	18.4M
5	Fri., 6/18/93	PHX 108, CHI 98	NBC	19.0	17.7M
6	Sun., 6/20/93	CHI 99, PHX 98	NBC	20.3	18.9M

1992

BULLS 4, TRAIL BLAZERS 2
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs
1	Wed., 6/3/92	POR 89, CHI 122	NBC	13.5	12.4M
2	Fri., 6/5/92	POR 115, CHI 104	NBC	13.7	12.6M
3	Sun., 6/7/92	CHI 94, POR 84	NBC	13.6	12.5M
4	Wed., 6/10/92	CHI 88, POR 93	NBC	16.0	14.7M
5	Fri., 6/12/92	CHI 119, POR 106	NBC	13.9	12.8M
6	Sun., 6/14/92	POR 93, CHI 97	NBC	14.7	13.5M

1991

BULLS 4, LAKERS 1
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating	HHs
1	Sun., 6/2/91	LAL 93, CHI 91	NBC	12.6	—
2	Wed., 6/5/91	LAL 86, CHI 107	NBC	16.1	15.0M
3	Fri., 6/7/91	CHI 104, LAL 96	NBC	15.7	14.6M
4	Sun., 6/9/91	CHI 97, LAL 82	NBC	15.2	14.2M
5	Wed., 6/12/91	CHI 108, LAL 101	NBC	19.7	18.3M

1990

PISTONS 4, TRAIL BLAZERS 1
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating
1	Tue., 6/5/90	POR 99, DET 105	CBS	11.8
2	Thu., 6/7/90	POR 106, DET 105	CBS	12.2
3	Sun., 6/10/90	DET 121, POR 106	CBS	10.8
4	Tue., 6/12/90	DET 112, POR 109	CBS	13.4
5	Thu., 6/14/90	DET 92, POR 90	CBS	13.2

1989

PISTONS 4, LAKERS 0
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating
1	Tue., 6/6/89	LAL 97, DET 109	CBS	14.0
2	Thu., 6/8/89	LAL 105, DET 108	CBS	15.6
3	Sun., 6/11/89	DET 114, LAL 110	CBS	13.2
4	Tue., 6/13/89	DET 105, LAL 97	CBS	17.4

1988

LAKERS 4, PISTONS 3
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating
1	Tue., 6/7/88	DET 105, LAL 93	CBS	13.9
2	Thu., 6/9/88	DET 96, LAL 108	CBS	14.8
3	Sun., 6/12/88	LAL 99, DET 86	CBS	12.0
4	Tue., 6/14/88	LAL 86, DET 111	CBS	14.8
5	Tue., 6/16/88	LAL 94, DET 104	CBS	16.1
6	Sun., 6/19/88	DET 102, LAL 103	CBS	14.4
7	Tue., 6/21/88	DET 105, LAL 108	CBS	21.2

1987

LAKERS 4, CELTICS 2
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating
1	Tue., 6/2/87	BOS 113, LAL 126	CBS	13.8
2	Thu., 6/4/87	BOS 122, LAL 141	CBS	14.6
3	Sun., 6/7/87	LAL 103, BOS 109	CBS	—
4	Tue., 6/9/87	LAL 107, BOS 106	CBS	18.9
5	Thu., 6/11/87	LAL 108, BOS 123	CBS	18.9
6	Sun., 6/14/87	BOS 93, LAL 106	CBS	17.3

1986

CELTICS 4, ROCKETS 2
Gm #	Date	Game	Net	Rating
1	Mon., 5/26/86	HOU 100, BOS 112	CBS	9.9
2	Thu., 5/29/86	HOU 95, BOS 117	CBS	14.8
3	Sun., 6/1/86	BOS 104, HOU 106	CBS	—
4	Tue., 6/3/86	BOS 106, HOU 103	CBS	15.4
5	Thu., 6/5/86	BOS 96, HOU 111	CBS	16.9
6	Sun., 6/8/86	HOU 97, BOS 114	CBS	14.2

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Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.