Ratings: NBA, Stanley Cup, Blackhawks, Mets

Aaron Lavinsky/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire

Recent sports TV ratings, including the final nights of the NBA season, the first night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and local figures for the Blackhawks and Mets.

NBA Ratings: Season Ends on Higher Note

Wednesday’s Jazz-Blazers NBA season finale pulled a 0.7 rating and 1.1 million viewers on ESPN, up 17% in ratings and 25% in viewership from last year (Pelicans-Blazers: 0.6, 874K). In the same window two years ago, the Warriors’ record-setting 73rd win of the season and Kobe Bryant‘s final game combined for a 4.3 and 7.1 million.

Earlier in the night, Bucks-Sixers had a 0.7 (flat) and 1.0 million (-2%). Airing in the same window on NBA TV, Nuggets-Timberwolves had 375,000 viewers.

The latter matchup, an overtime thriller that decided the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, pulled a 7.5 rating on Fox Sports North Plus in Minneapolis-St. Paul — the network’s highest T’Wolves rating ever in the regular season. The previous high was a 6.5.

In other final week NBA action, Celtics-Wizards had a 0.8 (+45%) and 1.2 million (+39%) on TNT Tuesday night, with the Rockets-Lakers nightcap earning a 0.8 (+14%) and 1.1 million (+3%). ESPN earned a mere 0.5 and 681,000 for Pelicans-Clippers on Monday night.

Stanley Cup Playoffs Begin With Increase on NBCSN

Wednesday’s Flyers-Penguins Stanley Cup first round Game 1 had a 0.38 rating and 632,000 viewers on NBCSN, up 41% in ratings and 42% in viewership from last year (Rangers-Canadiens: 0.3, 445K). Later in the night, Game 1 between the Kings and Golden Knights pulled a 0.33 (+10%) and 521,000 (+4%).

Over on CNBC, Wild-Jets Game 1 had 234,000 — down 57% from Blue Jackets-Penguins on USA Network last year (540K).

Buffalo led all markets for the first night of the playoffs, averaging a 1.75 rating for the three games. Ft. Myers, Fla., was second (1.05), followed by Nashville, Richmond, Va., and Boston (0.87 in each).

Out of Playoffs, Blackhawks Hit Nine-Year Low

With the team missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade, Chicago Blackhawks regular season games averaged a 2.39 rating on NBC Sports Chicago — down 28% from last year (3.33), down 40% from two years ago (3.96) and the team’s smallest average since 2008-09 (1.26). Despite the lower numbers, the Blackhawks still outdrew the similarly-moribund Bulls (1.81). [NBC Sports]

Mets Near Three-Year High

Monday’s Mets-Marlins Major League Baseball game had a 4.5 rating on SNY in the New York City market, the team’s second-highest rating on the network since 2015 (Mets-Nationals: 4.52). A Mets-Braves game last April holds the top spot over that span (4.7).

[Numbers from Programming Insider 4.11a, 4.11b, 4.12, Fox Sports North 4.12, NBC Sports, SNY]

NHL Regular Season Up on NBC, Down Overall

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.