The NBA got the finish it needed in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, but it was not enough to keep Pacers-Thunder from opening at a non-COVID low.
Thursday’s Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals Game 1 averaged a 4.7 rating and 8.91 million viewers on ABC, marking the lowest rated and least-watched Game 1 of the Finals of the Nielsen people meter era (1988-present) outside of the two COVID-affected series, Bucks-Suns in July 2021 (4.5, 8.70M) and Heat-Lakers in the “bubble” on the final day of September 2020 (4.1, 7.69M).
Indiana’s last-second win, which peaked with 11.07 million during the final minutes, was the least-watched Finals game of any kind since that 2021 opener — and the ninth-least watched in the people-meter era.
Ratings declined 18% and viewership 19% from Mavericks-Celtics last year (5.7, 10.99M). The declines would have been sharper if not for the Pacers’ comeback. Viewership was down 23% from last year until the 10:45 PM ET quarter-hour (from 11.2 to 8.6 million), after which point it increased by 15% over the final minutes of last year’s Boston blowout (from 9.0 to 10.4 million).
NBA Finals Game 1 viewership by quarter-hour
Game 1 was, as always, the most-watched show of the night and topped the charts in all of the key adult and male demographics. With a 1.9 rating in adults 18-34 (1.38 million viewers), Game 1 accounted for nearly 44% of all viewing in that demographic Thursday night. Yet that is still the lowest rating ever for a Finals game in the demo, falling below a 2.1 for Games 2 and 3 in the 2020 “bubble” — an indication of just how little adults under 35 are watching linear television.
(If 1.93% of adults 18-34 equaled 43.8% of all viewing in that demo Thursday night, the total adults 18-34 rating across all of television would come to about 4.4, which is only slightly higher than the 4.2 Game 1 of the Finals averaged by itself in 2019.)
In adults 18-49 (2.6) and 25-54 (3.1), it was the third-least watched Finals game on record, ahead of only the aforementioned two games in the “bubble.”
With the series pitting the #25 and #47 television markets, expectations were low heading into the Pacers-Thunder series — especially given Oklahoma City’s dominance throughout the NBA season. Even so, as with the Stanley Cup Final the prior night, the Game 1 audience may still have come in under those expectations.
The Thunder looked well on their way to a comfortable Game 1 win until Indiana pulled off yet another fourth quarter comeback, culminating in Tyrese Haliburton’s game-winning shot. If this series is to bounce back in the ratings, the momentum from that shot will have to carry into Sunday’s Game 2.
The only other time this postseason that Oklahoma City lost at home was Game 1 against Denver in the second round, which played out almost identically to Thursday’s Game 1. The Thunder followed that defeat with a 43-point wipeout of the Nuggets in Game 2, an outcome that needless to say that league would need to avoid.
