The NBA’s first conference final game to feature a Canadian team was not much of a draw on ESPN.
Game 1 of the Raptors/Cavaliers NBA Eastern Conference Finals had a 4.1 overnight rating on ESPN Tuesday night, down 24% from Rockets/Warriors last year (5.4) and down 29% from Heat/Pacers in 2014, which aired on ABC (5.8). Compared to Game 1 of last year’s Cavaliers/Hawks East final on TNT, overnights dropped 27% from a 5.6.
The Cavaliers’ blowout win earned the lowest overnight for a conference final opener since Grizzlies/Spurs on ABC three years ago (3.9). Of the eight conference finals to involve LeBron James, Tuesday’s opener was the second-lowest rated in the metered markets — ahead of only Cavaliers/Pistons in 2007 (3.5).
The numbers were no doubt hampered by the presence of the Raptors, a Canadian team whose local viewers do not count toward U.S. television ratings. While it is not impossible for the Raptors to draw well in the U.S. — the team was a national TV fixture during the Vince Carter era — the current iteration is largely unknown to mainstream sports viewers. The lopsided nature of the game did not help.
By comparison, Game 1 of last year’s Blue Jays/Royals MLB American League Championship Series — which also involved a Canadian team — had a 4.3 overnight on the FOX broadcast network.
(Tue. numbers from ESPN)
