NBA Finals ratings on the low side despite Warriors

The Golden State Warriors have returned to 2018 levels; NBA Finals ratings have not.

The six-game Warriors-Celtics NBA Finals averaged 12.40 million viewers on ABC, topping only the past two out-of-season years as the least-watched Finals since 2007 (Spurs-Cavaliers: 9.29M). In the Nielsen people meter era, which dates back to 1988, this year’s Finals tops only the past two years, 2007 and 2003 (Spurs-Nets: 9.86M). Ratings were not immediately available.

If up sharply from the aforementioned out-of-season Finals — 22% from Bucks-Suns in July of last year (10.15M) and 62% from Lakers-Heat in a fanless fall “bubble” two years ago (7.66M) — viewership fell 18% from Raptors-Warriors three years ago, the previous Finals to take place at the normal time of year (15.14M).

After trending at an eight-year high through the first two rounds, the complete NBA Playoffs averaged 4.77 million viewers across 87 games on ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV, up 18% from last year (May 22-July 20), up 55% from two years ago (August 17-October 11), and down slightly from 2019 (4.83M).

Declines from 2019 would be even more pronounced if not for inclusion of out-of-home data, which was not included in 2019 or prior years. Keep in mind that the sizable drop in linear television viewing since ’19 (-26% during the Finals) may mitigate the out-of-home effect. The Finals averaged a 20 share, the highest since 2017, and the playoffs averaged a 9 — the highest on record — meaning that while fewer viewers were tuning in, a larger percentage of the shrinking linear TV audience was watching the games.

Thursday’s clinching Game 6 averaged a 7.5 rating and 13.99 million viewers, up 14% in ratings and 9% in viewership from last year in late July (Suns-Bucks: 6.6, 12.78M) but down 30% and 25% respectively from 2019 (Raptors-Warriors: 10.7, 18.76M). Despite a 30% ratings drop, the game’s 21 share nearly matched 2019 (22).

The Warriors’ comfortable win, which peaked with 16.86 million viewers, tops only the past two years as the least-watched Game 6 of the Finals since 2005 (Pistons-Spurs: 13.47M). It nonetheless ranks as the most-watched NBA game since the league returned from hiatus nearly two years ago and the fifth-most watched basketball game over that span, behind two NCAA men’s national championships and two national semifinals.

Game 6 averaged a 4.3 rating in adults 18-49 (even with last year), a 3.5 in 18-34 (-8%) and a 5.0 in 25-54 (+6%). The 4.3 in 18-49 — which tied the NBA’s best rating in the demo post-hiatus — declined 35% from 2019 (6.6), but the whopping 38 share jumped by more than a quarter (30).

The Finals delivered television’s six-largest audiences in the past six weeks, since the Kentucky Derby last month. In 18-49 and 25-54, Game 6 was television’s top program since the NCAA men’s basketball national championship — and in 18-34, it finished in a virtual tie with North Carolina-Duke national semifinal and the Kansas-North Carolina national championship as television’s top rated program since the Super Bowl (and top non-football program since the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade).

The NBA Finals averaged a larger audience than last year’s World Series (11.94M*), though its Game 6 could not match last year’s Braves-Astros clincher (14.14M*). As one would expect, the NBA comfortably outdrew the World Series in the key demos.

(* It was not immediately clear whether last year’s World Series figures are pending revision due to Nielsen’s undercount of out-of-home viewing.)