Wouldn’t you know it? The Luka Dončić trade keeps paying off — for the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA and the league’s media partners.
As for the Dallas Mavericks? Not so much. Anthony Davis will be sidelined for at least two more weeks with an adductor strain, and on Tuesday, the Mavs took a 107-99 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles.
The game aired on TNT, which wasted no time touting the viewership numbers for Dončić’s first matchup against his former team. According to the network, it was the most-watched regular-season game of the year outside of opening night. It also set a record as the most-watched regular-season game ever on Max and dominated key demographics, winning the night among adults 18-24, 25-54 and under 50.
TNT Sports’ networks and platforms powered record-setting audiences for the highly-anticipated @dallasmavs–@Lakers showdown last night. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/y1qqfnrQ2s
— TNT Sports U.S. PR (@TNTSportsUS) February 26, 2025
But this is nothing new. And TNT isn’t the only network cashing in on the heightened interest in the Lakers.
ESPN PR reported that Saturday’s Lakers-Nuggets showdown averaged 2.87 million viewers on NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC, marking a 29% increase over last year’s Celtics-Knicks game in the same slot (2.22 million viewers).
As for the Mavs-Lakers showdown on Tuesday, TNT pulled in 2.5 million viewers.
If you needed further proof that the Dončić trade was a goldmine for the NBA’s media partners, look no further.
And not for nothing, the ongoing trend since Dončić made his Lakers debut sets the stage for an even bigger event on April 9, when Dončić makes his long-awaited return to Dallas.
Expect that rematch to be a ratings juggernaut.
TNT struck gold with Dončić’s first matchup against his former team, and the network isn’t done cashing in. With 2.5 million viewers tuning in on Tuesday, the numbers are only trending upward.
The only problem is that April 9 is a Wednesday.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.