Game 3 of arguably the worst NBA Finals of all time drew a 7.8/13 overnight, down 13% from Mavs/Heat Game 3 last year, and down 10% from Spurs/Pistons Game 3 in 2005 and Spurs/Nets Game 3 in 2003.
Game 1 of the series finished tied for #9 for the week in network prime-time television ratings, falling behind reality shows and re-runs. Game 2 finished #15 for the week. Compare that to last year, when no Mavericks/Heat game finished lower than #4 for the week it aired.
No game in this series has drawn even an 8.0 overnight rating; the 2003 NBA Finals (currently the lowest-rated ever) reached that number four times during the six-game series. No game of the 2005 NBA Finals finished with an overnight lower than 8.4.
No game in this series has drawn a 7.0 final rating. Never in the history of the NBA Finals has an entire series failed to draw a 7.0 rating for at least one game. Two games in the 2003 NBA Finals reached that mark, Games 3 and 6, both on Sunday nights.
No game in this series has drawn 10 million viewers. This would be the first series since at least 1981 (and likely ever) to not have a single game draw 10 million viewers. Game 6 of the 2003 NBA Finals drew 11.6 million viewers on a Sunday night, and every game of the 2005 NBA Finals drew at least 10 million viewers.
This will be the fourth time in the five years of this television deal with ESPN/ABC and TNT that the NBA Finals has failed to draw a double-digit average rating. From 1982 to 2002, no NBA Finals series drew less than a 10.0 average rating. Only four times in the history of the NBA on NBC did an NBA Finals game draw less than a 10.0 rating: Game 5 in 1994, Game 2 in 1999, Game 2 in 2000 and Game 2 in 2002. The latter three games all aired on Friday nights, and the first game aired opposite the O.J. Simpson car chase. As a comparison, out of the 27 NBA Finals games ABC has aired thus far, only six have drawn double-digit ratings: Games 2, 3, 4 and 5 in 2004, Game 7 in 2005 and Game 6 in 2006.
This will be only the second time since 1981 that an NBA Finals series has finished with no game drawing at least one double-digit rating. No game of the 2003 NBA Finals drew a double-digit rating. In addition, this will be only the second time since ’81 that no game of an NBA Finals series drew at least an 8.0 rating. The 2003 NBA Finals also shares that distinction.
This series, especially if it ends in a sweep, should finish as the lowest-rated NBA Finals since at least 1976 (and likely ever).
Of the 21 games the San Antonio Spurs have played in the NBA Finals, only five have drawn a rating of 10.0 or higher (Games 1, 3, 4 and 5 in 1999 and Game 7 in 2005). Since 1981, the Spurs have been involved in every NBA Finals game that has failed to register even a 7.0 rating (Games 1, 2, 4 and 5 in 2003, Game 2 in 2005, and Games 1 and 2 in 2007). No other team, excluding the teams playing the Spurs in those games, shares that distinction. After the conclusion of this series, the San Antonio Spurs will be involved in three of the six lowest-rated NBA Finals since 1976.
