The NBA opened the second season of its new media rights deal with another strong audience performance, as Opening Week games averaged 3.24 million viewers across NBCUniversal, ESPN and Amazon Prime Video.
The figure was up 15% from last year’s 2.81 million average and marked the NBA’s highest Opening Week average since 2012, excluding the COVID-delayed 2020-21 season, which began during Christmas week.
Excluding the opening-day matinee between the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons, the average rose to 3.33 million viewers, up 19% year over year.
NBCUniversal averaged 5.1 million viewers across its three Opening Night games, including 6.4 million for its primetime matchups.
The Philadelphia 76ers’ matchup with the New York Knicks led the way with 7.71 million viewers. Combining Nielsen’s television measurement with streaming data tracked by Adobe Analytics, the figure represented the NBA’s largest Opening Night audience on record, excluding the lockout-delayed 2011-12 season that began on Christmas.
NBC’s other games included Oklahoma City Thunder-San Antonio Spurs, which averaged 4.85 million viewers, and Celtics-Pistons, which drew 2.52 million.
ESPN records strongest start since 2014
ESPN averaged 2.3 million viewers across its Opening Week games, up 6% from last year and its most-watched start to an NBA season since 2014.
The network’s top audience came for Minnesota Timberwolves-Miami Heat, which averaged 2.52 million viewers. While the rating was unchanged from last year’s Cleveland Cavaliers-New York Knicks matchup, total viewership increased 16%.
Golden State Warriors-Los Angeles Lakers averaged 2.46 million viewers, while Cleveland Cavaliers-Philadelphia 76ers drew 2.49 million. The latter, featuring LeBron James’ first home game for Philadelphia, was up 26% from last year’s comparable matchup and was ESPN’s most-watched opening Thursday game since James’ Lakers debut in 2018.
Prime Video audience jumps 66%
Amazon Prime Video also recorded a significant increase. Its doubleheader last Friday averaged 2.14 million viewers, up 66% from last year and the platform’s most-watched regular-season doubleheader to date.
New York Knicks-Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets-San Antonio Spurs both averaged 2.14 million viewers, with audiences up 83% and 53%, respectively, from the corresponding games last season.
The results underline the strong start to the second season of the NBA’s new media rights agreement, which has increased both the league’s rights revenue and its reach. With a third Opening Night game added to broadcast television, total Opening Week reach increased 33%, outpacing the growth in average-minute audience.