NBA Championship Game Draws Strong Audience

The first NBA Finals Game 7 in nearly a decade drew strong viewership on Sunday night. ESPN reported that 16.35 million viewers watched the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers, securing the franchise’s first NBA title since moving to Oklahoma City. The game peaked at 19.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched NBA Finals game in six years.

The series averaged 10.2 million viewers per game, a 9% drop from 2024 and the least-watched Finals since 2007’s San Antonio Spurs sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers, excluding the pandemic-affected 2020 and 2021 seasons. Sunday’s Game 7, the first winner-take-all Finals game since 2016, clearly boosted interest.

Earlier games in the series, however, underperformed. Game 1 on ABC averaged just under 9 million viewers, the lowest for a Game 1 since 1988, outside of 2020 and 2021, and a 19% decline from the 2024 Boston Celtics-Dallas Mavericks Finals. Game 2, a Thunder blowout, drew 8.76 million viewers, the least-watched Game 2 since 2007, excluding the 2020 bubble Finals. Game 3 averaged 9.2 million viewers, down nearly 20% from the previous year’s equivalent.

By contrast, the 2016 Game 7 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, also on a Sunday night, attracted 31 million viewers, per the Sports Business Journal. This year’s figures, while solid for a Game 7, pale in comparison.