Blame Canada, Warriors fatigue, or the absence of LeBron James — or all three — but NBA Finals ratings continue to slide to levels not seen in more than a decade.
Wednesday’s Raptors-Warriors NBA Finals Game 3 earned a 10.0 overnight rating on ABC, down 21% from last year (12.7) and down 25% from 2017 (13.4), both of which were Warriors-Cavaliers matchups.
The Raptors’ win tied the lowest overnight for Game 3 of the NBA Finals since 2007 (Spurs-Cavaliers: 7.8) and the lowest for any finals game since 2009 (Lakers-Magic Game 5: 9.4). In both cases, it matched Heat-Spurs Game 3 in 2013, a 36-point San Antonio blowout.
The 10.0 is the lowest overnight of the series, if only barely. Game 2 had a 10.2 on Sunday night and Game 1 a 10.1 last Thursday.
This year’s NBA Finals is the first to involve the Raptors, whose Canadian fanbase is not measured by Nielsen. While the absence of a second home market does not fully explain the significant declines — Cleveland’s 33.0 rating for last year’s Game 3 equaled only 0.4 ratings points nationally — it is no doubt having some impact.
Final ratings for both Games 1 and 2 declined 22% from the overnight, the biggest drop for the NBA Finals since 2003. The same result for Game 3 would result in a 7.8 final rating.
Local ratings for Wednesday’s game were not available.
NBA Finals Game 3 overnights, past 20 years
[Numbers from ESPN PR 6.6]
