Going into the NBA Finals matchup between the Cavs and Warriors, many sports media pundits expected a ratings boon for ABC. Through one game, those pundits are looking pretty bright. Game 1 on Thursday night drew a monstrous 12.9 overnight rating, marking the highest-rated NBA Finals Game 1 on ABC ever, and the highest-rated on any network since Nets-Lakers in 2002 on NBC.
Game 1 this year was also up a monstrous 24% for Game 1 of Heat-Spurs a year ago, which drew a 10.4. Locally, Game 1 drew a 41.4 in Cleveland and a 28.9 in San Francisco, both all-time highs for the NBA on ABC in those markets.
Sports Media Watch dug a little deeper, and found some staggering nuggets about that Game 1 overnight. The 12.9 was more than a full point higher than any Game 1 rating between that Nets-Lakers series in 2002 and last night’s game. It was up 63% from Game 1 of Cavs-Spurs in 2007, Cleveland’s last appearance in the Finals. Every game in last year’s Heat-Spurs series had a lower rating than Cavs-Warriors last night.
All in all, this is a massive triumph for the NBA, and ABC/ESPN. Given how dramatic last night’s game went, I’d expect the ratings to continue thriving as the series goes along. Imagine if this series goes seven games – we could be venturing into historic territory.
[ESPN]
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