The NBA Finals got off to a better start in the ratings than last year, but Game 1 remained on the historically low side.
Tuesday’s Bucks-Suns NBA Finals Game 1 averaged a 4.5 rating and 8.56 million viewers on ABC, up 10% in ratings and 13% in viewership from Heat-Lakers in the “bubble” last September, which faced Major League Baseball playoff games (4.1, 7.58M), but down 43% and 36% respectively from Warriors-Raptors in May 2019 (7.9, 13.38M).
The Suns’ win, which peaked with 9.97 million viewers from 11:15-11:30 PM ET, tops only last year as the least-watched Game 1 of the Finals on record. Prior to last year, the smallest Game 1 audience was 9.21 million for Cavaliers-Spurs in 2007. Overall, Game 1 ranks as the eighth-least watched Finals game on record, ahead of five of last year’s six games, Game 2 of Cavaliers-Spurs (8.55M) and Game 2 of Nets-Spurs in 2003 (8.06M).
Until the league went on hiatus in March of last year, every Finals game from 2008-19 had averaged at least 12 million.
Though low historically, Game 1 ranks as the second-most watched NBA game since the league returned from hiatus nearly a year ago, trailing only Game 5 of last year’s Finals (8.96M). It also ranks as the ninth-most watched game in the past three seasons, which includes the 2018-19 campaign that was run as normal.
That Game 1 was closer to the “bubble” than to 2019 is a reversal of the trend this postseason. Entering the Finals, viewership was closer to 2019 (-10%) than to the “bubble” (+35%).
Demographic figures were not immediately available, though as one would expect ABC won the night in all key demos. Locally, Game 1 drew a 23.9 rating in Milwaukee and a 23.7 in Phoenix, the markets’ highest NBA ratings since 2001 and 2000, respectively.
At #37, Milwaukee is the smallest market to make the NBA Finals since Oklahoma City in 2012 — but those Thunder were led by a nationally popular Kevin Durant and faced the league’s strongest draw of the post-Jordan era, the LeBron James-led Miami Heat. Phoenix, in the NBA Finals after a whopping ten-year playoff drought, boasts Chris Paul and no other nationally known stars.
In addition, while this year’s NBA Finals is not nearly as far out of season as last year, the July 6 start is still the second-latest in the event’s history. The Finals began in May in 2018 and 19. The NBA has generally avoided July and August, months in which television viewing levels are lower. Given the matchup, it is not out of the realm of possibility that viewership would have been about the same even with a May or June start.
By comparison, Game 1 of last year’s World Series averaged 9.2 million viewers.
[Nielsen estimates from ESPN, Nielsen]
