As much as the NBA has come to rely on LeBron James and the Warriors, a rejuvenated Lakers squad could be a boon for the league.
The NBA Las Vegas Summer League averaged 437,000 viewers across ESPN and ESPN2 (25 telecasts), up 51% from 290,000 last year (23 telecasts). ESPN in particular averaged 783,000 for its five games, up 112% from 369,000 for three games last year.
Monday’s Lakers-Blazers championship game earned a 0.6 final rating (+132%) and 836,000 viewers (+128%) on ESPN, with the caveat that last year’s Bulls-T’Wolves title game aired on ESPN2.
The Lakers’ win delivered the third-largest Summer League audience ever, trailing two other Laker games this year — Clippers-Lakers on July 7 (879K) and Celtics-Lakers on July 8 (1.1M).
Overall, ESPN and ESPN2 televised the seven most-watched Summer League games this year alone, six of those involving the Lakers. Five of those games featured the much hyped Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball of UCLA, the lone exception being Monday’s championship.
[Numbers from ESPN, Programming Insider 7.19]
