Game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals was less of a draw than the opener, but still topped the sports viewership charts for Thursday, May 23.
Thursday’s Pacers-Celtics NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 2 averaged 5.64 million viewers on ESPN, marking the least-watched conference final game in three years and an 8% decline from Heat-Celtics last year.
The Celtics’ win, which put them up 2-0 en route to a four-game sweep, declined 12% from the series opener two nights earlier. Game 2 was still the top sportscast of the day (and topped all of primetime), but that is to be expected for a conference final game.
In other conference final action, Game 1 of the Oilers-Stars NHL Western Conference Final averaged a combined 1.54 million across TNT (1.45M) and truTV (92K) — down 10% from last year’s Stars-Golden Knights Game 1 on ESPN (1.71M). Compared to last year’s East Final opener on TNT, Panthers-Hurricanes in the East, viewership increased 8%.
Shifting to the NCAA softball tournament, Game 1 of the Oklahoma-Florida State super regional averaged 484,000 on ESPN2 — up 14% from 424,000 for FSU-Georgia last year. UCLA-Georgia Game 1 followed with 364,000, down 21% from Oregon-Oklahoma State a year ago (463K).
Further down the dial, opening round coverage of the PGA Tour Fort Worth tournament averaged 306,000 on Golf Channel — down 16% from 366,000 last year. Major League Baseball action topped out at 189,000 for regional action on MLB Network.
Thursday, May 23 sports ratings
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Original chart below:
