ESPN/ABC secures most-watched NBA Finals since 1998 for Knicks win

The New York Knicks’ first championship in 53 years provided ESPN the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998.

Saturday’s title-clinching Game 5 between the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs averaged 24.5 million viewers on ABC, good for the most-watched NBA game since Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors (31.0 million viewers). It was the most-watched Game 5 in an NBA Finals since Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls beating the Utah Jazz in 1998, and the full series was also the most-watched since 1998.

In total, the NBA Finals averaged 20.6 million viewers on ABC (a figure that includes one altcast on ESPN during Game 3), nearly double the figure that last year’s Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers earned despite going a full seven games (10.27 million viewers).

Viewership for Game 5 peaked at 33 million during the closing moments of the Knicks’ win.

Perhaps the most impressive part of this viewership story is the fact that a multi-decade record was set while the series only went five games. Traditionally, a series will have to go six or seven games before approaching record territory. After all, more casual fans are apt to tune in when a series stretches later and later. Bulls-Jazz in 1998, for instance, went six games. Previously, the two most-watched series since 1998 were in 2016 and 2017, which went seven and six games, respectively.

For this series to eclipse those NBA Finals without needing a sixth or seventh game is a testament to the crossover appeal a team like the Knicks has.

Of course, some of the viewership can also be attributed to the quality of the games. Every single game was competitive into the fourth quarter. Perhaps the only anomaly was Game 4, when the Spurs dominated through most of the first three quarters before a historic collapse led to a Knicks victory in the fourth quarter.

This year’s NBA Finals compares quite favorably to recent World Series numbers. The series average would out-rate every single World Series average since the Chicago Cubs ended the Curse of the Billy Goat in 2016, which averaged 22.85 million viewers and was aided by an audience of 40 million for Game 7. Aside from 2016, this year’s NBA Finals outdrew every World Series since 2004.

It should be noted, this is the first NBA Finals to be measured using Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel methodology, which generally increases viewership figures for live sports compared to prior years. However, the performance of this series far surpasses any statistical noise that could solely be attributed to Nielsen’s changes.