The NBA averaged 4.05 million viewers over its first weekend of the playoffs — making it the league’s most-viewed opening playoff weekend since 2011, according to the league.
The ratings are a strong start to this year’s campaign. The league’s highest-broadcast from the weekend was Sunday’s thrilling Game 1 between the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics, which averaged 6.9 million viewers on ABC. The game, which saw Boston’s Jayson Tatum hit a buzzer-beating layup to give the Celtics the victory, peaked at 9.8 viewers. In all, the contest was the league’s most-watched first-round game since 2016.
On TNT, the network saw its most-watched opening day of the NBA playoffs since 2018 with 3.8 million viewers on Sunday. The network said it saw a 47% increase in viewership from last year and an 86% jump from 2020. TNT’s highest-rated broadcast of the day belonged to Milwaukee’s 93-86 win over the Chicago Bulls as the game averaged 4.8 million viewers.
This is the first year since the 2018-19 season in which the NBA playoffs are back on their normal schedule. In 2020, the league didn’t begin the postseason until August because of a months-long stoppage due to the pandemic. Last season, the NBA playoffs began in May — later than usual because of an adjusted 72-game schedule that began in December 2020.
The NBA saw its ratings jump 19% this past season across ABC, TNT and ESPN compared to the prior year and 3% from the 2019-20 season.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.