For the first time in 18 years, more than 30 million viewers tuned into an NBA game.
Game 7 of the Cavaliers/Warriors NBA Finals earned a 15.8 final rating and 31.0 million viewers on ABC Sunday night, up 3% in ratings and 18% in viewership from Spurs/Heat in 2013 (15.3, 26.3M) and up 1% and 10%, respectively, from Celtics/Lakers in 2010 (15.6, 28.2M). Figures do not include WatchESPN (598K) or ESPN Deportes.
The Cavaliers’ championship-clinching win, which peaked at a 22.5 and 44.5 million in the fast-nationals, ranks as the most-watched basketball game (college or pro) since Bulls/Jazz Game 6 in 1998 (22.3, 35.9M). It earned the second-highest rating over that span, behind last year’s Duke/Wisconsin NCAA Tournament national championship (16.0).
Going back further, Sunday’s game ranks as the third-most watched NBA game dating back to 1993 — behind only Bulls/Jazz Game 6 in ’98 and Bulls/Suns Game 6 in 1993 (32.1M). It also earned the top audience for Game 7 of the NBA Finals since at least Pistons/Lakers in 1988 (six telecasts over that span).
Outside of the NFL and the Olympic Games, Sunday’s game delivered the top audience for any sporting event this year, marking the first time since 2002 that an NBA game has outdrawn college football’s national championship (15.0, 26.2M). It was the most-watched television program of any kind since the Academy Awards in February (34.3M).
Again excluding the NFL and the Olympics, Game 7 ranks as the fifth-most watched sporting event since 1998 and the only basketball game in the top ten. Four of the ten largest audiences have involved an Ohio team, the other three featuring Ohio State. Game 7 scored more viewers than every Major League Baseball game since Red Sox/Yankees Game 7 in the 2004 ALCS (31.5M), every college basketball game since the Arkansas/Duke national championship in 1994 (32.7M), and the most-watched soccer match in U.S. TV history — last year’s United States/Japan Women’s World Cup final (26.7M).
Among adults 18-49, Game 7 delivered an 11.3 rating — up 7% from 2013 (10.6) but down a tick from 2010 (11.4). The 11.3 is television’s highest rating in the demo since the Super Bowl, topping the Academy Awards (10.5). It drew a 10.8 rating in adults 18-34, up 3% from 2013 (10.5) but down 9% from 2010 (11.8).
| MOST-WATCHED SPORTSCASTS SINCE 1998 Excluding the NFL and the Olympics Asterisk (*) indicates ESPN Megacast |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Year | Game | Net | Rtg. | Vwrs. |
| 1 | 2001 | Yankees/D’Backs World Series Game 7 |
FOX | 23.5 | 39.08M |
| 2 | 2006 | Texas/USC Rose Bowl |
ABC | 21.7 | 35.63M |
| 3 | 2015 | Ohio State/Oregon CFP Nat’l Champ. |
ESPN* | 18.6 | 34.15M |
| 4 | 2004 | Red Sox/Yankees ALCS Game 7 |
FOX | 19.4 | 31.46M |
| 5 | 2016 | Cavaliers/Warriors NBA Finals Game 7 |
ABC | 15.8 | 31.02M |
| 6 | 2002 | Giants/Angels World Series Game 7 |
FOX | 17.9 | 30.81M |
| 7 | 2010 | Alabama/Texas BCS Nat’l Champ. |
ABC | 17.2 | 30.78M |
| 8 | 2003 | Ohio State/Miami Fiesta Bowl |
ABC | 17.2 | 29.10M |
| 9 | 2004 | Red Sox/Cardinals World Series Game 4 |
FOX | 18.2 | 28.84M |
| 10 | 2007 | Florida/Ohio State BCS Nat’l Champ. |
FOX | 17.4 | 28.80M |
UPDATE 6/21/16: Post updated with final nationals.
(Sun. numbers from ESPN, with additional info from ABC via The Futon Critic)
