In 2016, it was the last time an NBA Finals Game 7 drew a large viewership for ABC, preventing potential record-low ratings for the series.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s victory over the Indiana Pacers, with a score of 103-91, was viewed by approximately 16.35 million people, as per preliminary data from Nielsen. This figure may experience minor adjustments in the final ratings, to be released on Tuesday. The viewership peaked at around 19.28 million between 9:45 and 10 p.m. ET during the Thunder’s winning moment. Interestingly, this makes Sunday’s game the most-watched NBA Finals contest since 2019, surpassing the last two games of that series which drew over 18 million viewers each.
As a gamer, I couldn’t help but tune in for game seven, and it seemed like everyone else did too! That epic showdown definitely helped ABC and ESPN wrap up the NBA playoffs on a high note. In fact, with a total of 35 games broadcasted across those two Disney networks, they managed to draw an average viewership of 6.12 million people – that’s a whopping 10% more than in 2024!
On a positive note, the news is good. However, it’s worth noting that the viewership for the 2025 NBA Finals was surprisingly low compared to other finals in this century.”
The new version maintains the original sentiment while using simpler and more natural language.
Compared to the Finals of 2003 and 2007, which were played in their regular June window, this year’s seven-game series averaged a higher viewership with 10.27 million viewers. However, it’s worth noting that the COVID-impacted series in 2020 and 2021, played later in the year, had lower viewership. Also, prior to Sunday, none of the six Finals broadcasts this year surpassed the 10 million-viewer threshold. Despite the increase in viewers compared to previous games, Sunday’s game seven is still the least-watched final game on record, with a previous low of 19 million viewers in 2005.
Much of this situation can be attributed to the fact that Oklahoma City and Indianapolis are among the smaller markets in the NBA. The Thunder and Pacers, respectively, ranked 11th and 16th in national television broadcasts during the 2024-25 regular season (including those on NBA TV), which means they were less visible to casual fans compared to teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, or Golden State Warriors.
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2025-06-23 23:25