Numbers: NBA Free Agency Ratings & More

NBA free agency got off to a stronger start; ESPN viewership increased in the second quarter; WNBA viewership is up double-digits; MLB scored an increase on July 4.

Larger Crowd For Start of NBA Free Agency

A special NBA free agency edition of “The Jump” had 341,000 viewers on ESPN2 Saturday night, up 11% from last year (306K). The concurrent Midnight ET edition of “SportsCenter” on ESPN had 478,000, up 34% (from 357K).

By comparison, ESPN scored 404,000 for “SportsCenter” and 563,000 for “NFL Live” when NFL free agency began in March; those shows aired back-to-back rather than head-to-head.

On Sunday night, after Cavaliers F LeBron James announced his decision to join the Los Angeles Lakers, a special 2 1/2 hour edition of “SportsCenter” had 286,000 on ESPNEWS. Coverage aired opposite ESPN’s Red Sox-Yankees Sunday Night Baseball game (2.4M). By comparison, when James announced he was leaving the Miami Heat for the Cavaliers in 2014, “SportsCenter” averaged 981,000 over five hours on ESPN. The 2014 announcement came on a Friday afternoon against no meaningful competition.

James’ first free agency decision, to leave Cleveland for Miami in 2010, averaged 9.9 million in a one-hour television special on ESPN.

ESPN Q2 Viewership Up, Particularly in Primetime

ESPN averaged 607,000 viewers during the second quarter of the year, up a fraction of a percent from last year (604K). That includes a 10% increase in primetime from 1.41 to 1.54 million.

ESPN primarily benefited from a stronger NBA postseason, with the network’s 19 playoff games up 30% to 5.1 million. The postseason included ESPN’s most-watched NBA game as 13.5 million watched Game 7 of the Cavaliers-Celtics Eastern Conference Finals. No doubt fueled by stronger NBA lead-ins, the Midnight ET edition of SportsCenter posted a 12% increase (to 744K).

WNBA Up Double-Digits on ESPN2

The WNBA season averaged 250,000 viewers on ESPN2 through June, up 39% from last year and the network’s best start to the season since 2013. Aided by a lead-in from the College World Series, the June 28 Storm-Sparks game had a season-high 378,000 — up 193% from last year (Storm-Sun: 129K).

This past Thursday, Sparks-Lynx had 257,000, up 3% from the same matchup last year. It is not included in the above averages.

MLB Holiday Games Up

Wednesday’s Orioles-Phillies Major League Baseball game had 683,000 viewers on ESPN, up 26% from last year on the same July 4 holiday (Pirates-Phillies: 544K) and down 9% from 2016 (Rockies-Giants: 747K).

In primetime, White Sox-Reds drew 664,000 (+3%). The Cardinals-Diamondbacks nightcap brought up the rear with 419,000, down 31% from a delayed Tigers-Indians game in the same timeslot two years ago (610K).

[Numbers from ESPN, ShowBuzz Daily 7.3 a, b, 7.6]