A much more competitive Game 2 drove the 2024 NBA Finals to a five-year viewership high.
Per ESPN, the Boston Celtics’ seven-point win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday averaged 12.311 million viewers, the most-watched Game 2 of an NBA Finals since 2019.
The Celtics’ blowout Game 1 win averaged 11.04 million viewers across ABC and ESPN Deportes, the lowest mark for a Finals opener in three seasons.
Comparing the peak audiences for the two games, which started at 8:30 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. ET respectively, it’s evident that the closeness (or lack thereof) played a role in each game’s viewership. Game 1’s viewership peaked in the 9:15 p.m. ET quarter hour, less than an hour into the game, with 12.11 million viewers. Game 2 peaked in the 10 p.m. ET hour with 14.422 million viewers. Not only was the peak audience larger by two million viewers, but it came far later in the game, with more viewers sticking around to that high point. That’s a positive development after the negative vibes coming out of Game 1.
When looking at previous years, this year’s Game 2 holds up well. Per Sports Media Watch, it was up 3% from Heat-Nuggets in 2023 and Celtics-Warriors in 2022, which both averaged 11.91 million viewers. Last year’s Heat-Nuggets series didn’t even crack 12 million viewers until the series-deciding Game 5, while 2022’s Celtics-Warriors series didn’t eclipse the mark until Game 4.
However, despite the improvements compared to recent years, Game 2 still can’t hold a candle to the golden age of the NBA Finals before the pandemic. Every NBA Finals game from 2008 through 2019 drew more viewers than Game 2, and those all came without the added benefit of out-of-home viewing included in Nielsen’s viewership.
The series continues on Wednesday, June 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC in Dallas.
[Data via ESPN, Sports Media Watch]
