Not even a four game sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals with each contest decided by double digits could halt the NBA’s momentum when it comes to television ratings.
ESPN has had rotten luck in the last week with both its NBA Eastern Conference Finals and NHL Western Conference Finals coverage ending in sweeps. Those late-series primetime games are some of the most valuable inventory ESPN has in its lineup with potentially tens of millions of viewers between the pair of them. In replacement, the network has had to get creative, airing a Pat McAfee special interviewing major sports league commissioners. But as ingenuitive as it was, it couldn’t come close to matching what a Game 6 or Game 7 in a conference finals could do.
In spite of that bad luck, ESPN has to at least be happy with their numbers from the games that were played in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals as the New York Knicks disposed of the Cleveland Cavaliers with ease.
Across the four games, ESPN averaged 7.4 million viewers. That was up an impressive 37% compared to last year’s coverage of the Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves. It’s also the most watched ECF in whole for the NBA since 2023 when the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics went seven games.
The ’26 #NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Cavaliers & Knicks averaged 7.4M viewers across ESPN & ABC
🏀 Up 37% vs ’25 Western Conference Finals
📈 Most-watched ECF since ’23Details: https://t.co/Hj8h11bMlz pic.twitter.com/fNdKTdHsms
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) May 28, 2026
The Western Conference Finals on NBC between the Thunder and Spurs has been drawing over 10 million viewers, and that should continue to go up for Game 6 on Thursday night and if there is a Game 7. The fact the Knicks and Cavs drew these numbers with three of the games being non-competitive has to be hugely encouraging both for ESPN and the NBA.
The Knicks being in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999 is a massive story. And it certainly seems like the interest and increased numbers that have been present throughout the regular season and playoffs will continue through the NBA Finals.
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