A bizarre NBA Finals, both on the court and in the ratings, ended on a solid note in the metered markets.
Thursday’s Raptors-Warriors NBA Finals Game 6 earned a 13.2 overnight rating on ABC, down 6% from 2016 (14.1) and down 17% from 2015 (15.9), both of which were Warriors-Cavaliers matchups. There were no comparable games last year or in 2017.
The 13.2 is the lowest for a Game 6 in the NBA Finals since Celtics-Lakers in 2010 (12.3), but overall ranks a middle-of-the-road fifth out of the last ten (dating back to 2000). It trails the two Warriors-Cavaliers games, Spurs-Heat in 2013 (14.7) and Mavericks-Heat in 2011 (15.0).
Toronto’s title-clinching win peaked at a 17.5, topping the peak quarter-hour in 2016 (16.7), but down from the peak in 2015 (18.8).
After none of the first four games exceeded a 10.2 overnight rating, Game 6 was the second straight to top the 13.0 mark. The 13.2 marks a slight decline from Game 5 (13.4), but tops every other game of the series by at least 29%.
This year’s NBA Finals was the first to involve the Raptors, whose Canadian fanbase is not measured by Nielsen. Game 6 had a 32.6 rating in the Bay Area, down 7% from 2016 (34.9) and down 20% from the Warriors’ 2015 clincher (40.7).
Games 5 and 6 rank as the highest rated basketball games of the year in the metered markets, topping the Virginia-Texas Tech NCAA Tournament national championship (12.4). UVA-Texas Tech will almost certainly finish as the top game in the final nationals; the NCAA game fell just 6% from overnight to final rating (11.6), while NBA Finals games have been declining by more than 20%.
NBA Finals Game 6 overnights, past 20 years
[Numbers from ESPN PR/Twitter 6.14; local ratings from Sports Business Daily 6.14]
