Coverage of last Friday’s Pacers-Knicks game drew 830,000 viewers on ESPN opposite Game 1 of the World Series, down 47% from 1.58M for Heat-Celtics during Game 1 last year. The Suns-Lakers nightcap drew 1.37M, down 22% from Warriors-Kings last year. Wednesday’s doubleheader fared better against Game 5: Celtics-Pacers drew 1.01M viewers and the Thunder-Spurs nightcap averaged 0.73M, down 2% and 51% from Pelicans-Thunder (1.03M) and Clippers-Lakers (1.48M) last year.
TV Ratings Rumors
The 2024 World Series might have been short, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees still proved they can draw viewers. Especially in Japan. This year’s Fall Classic averaged 12.1 million viewers in the home country of Dodgers stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, MLB announced Friday. That’s a larger audience than the 11.3 million viewers the 2024 NBA Finals averaged earlier this year, when the Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks.
After TNT increased its opening night viewership by 6% year-over-year on Tuesday, the rest of the week’s NBA windows saw declines. ESPN’s opening doubleheader on Wednesday averaged 1.6 million viewers, down 42% from the network’s opening games in 2023 that featured the rookie debut of San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers opened ESPN’s 2024 season with 1.71 million viewers, down from 2.55 million viewers for the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks in 2023. The Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers drew 1.52 million viewers, down 49% from last year’s comparable game.
The opening week of the NBA regular season started strong but fell off during Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night national windows. After TNT increased its opening night viewership by 6% year-over-year on Tuesday, the rest of the week’s NBA windows saw declines. ESPN’s opening doubleheader on Wednesday averaged 1.6 million viewers, down 42% from the network’s opening games in 2023 that featured the rookie debut of San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama. The comparison to 2022 looks more favorable, with viewership up 5% without the Wemby factor. The Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers opened ESPN’s 2024 season with 1.71 million viewers, down from 2.55 million viewers for the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks in 2023. The Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers drew 1.52 million viewers, down 49% from last year’s comparable game.
Wednesday’s NBA opening week doubleheader on ESPN averaged 1.6 million viewers, down 42% from last year — when coverage featured #1 pick Victor Wembanyama’s debut — but up 5% from 2022. Bucks-Sixers had a 1.0 rating and 1.71 million viewers, down a third from Celtics-Knicks last year (1.5, 2.55M), and the Suns-Clippers nightcap followed with 1.52 million (-49%). Keep in mind both games were absent some key players, including Sixers stars Joel Embiid and Paul George and the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard.
NBA Opening Night viewership up
With no baseball competition, the NBA season got off to a better start than last year, including a seven-year high in the early window. Tuesday’s NBA Opening Night doubleheader averaged a 1.6 rating and 2.95 million viewers on TNT, up a tick in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year, when the games aired opposite Game 7 of the MLB National League Championship Series (1.5, 2.78M). The games averaged a viewership share of 6.3 — meaning that 6.3% of viewers using televisions were tuned to the games — the highest for Opening Night in the TNT era.
The Celtics’ blowout of the Knicks led the way with a 1.6 and 3.01 million, marking the most-watched early window on Opening Night since 2017, when Celtics-Cavaliers drew 5.60 million. Across both windows, it was the most-watched since Lakers-Warriors two years ago (3.55M). Ratings increased a tick and viewership 6% from Lakers-Nuggets last year (1.5, 2.84M). The Timberwolves-Lakers nightcap drew a 1.6 and 2.91 million, up a tick and 7% respectively from Suns-Warriors a year ago (1.5, 2.71M). The Lakers’ win peaked with 3.5 million viewers during the 10:30 PM ET quarter-hour, exceeding the early game peak of 3.2 million. It should be noted that viewership peaked before Lakers draft pick Bronny James — son of LeBron — took the court at around 11 ET.
If there was any question whether the WNBA can maintain its momentum sans-Caitlin Clark, Tuesday’s playoff viewership may provide an answer. Tuesday’s Storm-Aces first round WNBA playoff Game 2 averaged a 0.59 rating and 988,000 viewers on ESPN, trailing only Sunday’s Fever-Sun Game 1 on ABC (1.84M) as the most-watched WNBA playoff game since 2003. Las Vegas’ series-clinching win delivered the largest playoff audience on cable since the deciding Game 3 of the 1999 Sparks-Comets Western Conference Finals (1.05M).
If Caitlin Clark is playing on NBA TV, chances are that the network drew its largest ever WNBA audience. Wednesday’s Aces-Fever WNBA regular season game averaged a 0.39 rating and 678,000 viewers on NBA TV, marking the largest WNBA audience ever on the network. The previous high was set earlier this month by a Fever-Wings game on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend (652K).
