Cleveland Posts Lower Rating For NBA Finals, But Tops All Markets

The Cavaliers may have delivered Cleveland’s first championship in 52 years, but their slow start led to lower ratings in the market.

The seven-game Cavaliers/Warriors NBA Finals averaged a 38.8 rating in Cleveland, down 11% from last year’s six-game series between the same teams (43.7), but the highest average of any market. Cavaliers secondary market Columbus ranked third with a 20.3 average, down 13% from last year’s 23.4.

The lower ratings are likely due to the Cavaliers’ rough start to the series, in which they were blown out twice and fell into a 3-1 hole. It took until Game 6 for any game to score a 40+ rating in Cleveland, after all six games did so last year.

In the Bay Area, the finals averaged a 34.1 rating — up 4% from last year (32.8) and second among all markets. Sacramento, which is in close proximity, was fourth with a 19.1 (+1%).

Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, where LeBron James played four years with the Heat before rejoining the Cavaliers in 2014, was the top neutral market with an 18.5 rating (+5%). It was followed by San Antonio (18.0, +17%), Atlanta (17.7, +6%) and Memphis (16.5, -15%).

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Pittsburgh was last among the 56 metered markets with an average rating of 6.2 — 46% below the national average of 11.4. Pittsburgh is two hours away from Cleveland but could not be further apart when it comes to the NBA, especially in a year when the Penguins’ Stanley Cup run likely overshadowed all other sporting events. Providence was the second-lowest rated market, though its 6.9 rating marked an 8% increase over last year (6.4).

Minneapolis-St. Paul was the lowest rated NBA city, with just 8.1% of homes per game watching former T-Wolves F Kevin Love play in his first finals. Boston took its customary spot in the bottom ten, with its average rating of 8.2 up 4% from last year (7.9).

(Local numbers from ESPN)