NBA viewership is going in the wrong direction.
After an awful start to the season, NBA ratings rebounded this year, but not to their 2023-24 levels.
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The start of the 2024-25 season was a nightmare for ratings.
The NBA was seeing a 20 percent drop in viewership year over year.
However, things got more exciting down the stretch, with Luka Donic’s trade to the Los Angeles Lakers certainly helping.
In the end, national NBA viewership only fell two percent across the entire year.
That figure is across ABC, ESPN, and TNT, according to Sports Media Watch’s Jon Lewis.
However, if NBA TV is included, the decline increases to a five percent drop.
Regular season games on ABC, ESPN, and TNT averaged 1.53 million viewers this season.
The NBA’s Christmas Day slate was the biggest factor in the ratings rebound.
The league decided to expand from a two-game slate to a five-game slate.
It was only the second time that the NBA put all five Christmas Day games on broadcast television.
The viewership from just that day almost completely erased the early season deficit.
The trade deadline was also a massive factor in the ratings rebound.
Doncic was the biggest move of the year, but the frenzy of other trades around him helped to drum up some interest for the rest of the season.
According to Lewis, games following the trade deadline increased average viewership by 16 percent.
ABC had the best year of all the networks, averaging 2.68 million viewers, up 10 percent from last year.
2025 NBA Playoff matchups
Western Conference:
Play-In Tournament:
- No. 7 Golden State Warriors vs No. 7 Memphis Grizzlies
- No. 9 Sacramento Kings vs No. 10 Dallas Mavericks
First Round:
- No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs No. 8 seed
- No. 2 Houston Rockets vs. No. 7 seed
- No. 3 Los Angeles Lakers vs No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves
- No. 4 Denver Nuggets vs No. 5 LA Clippers
Eastern Conference:
Play-In Tournament:
- No. 7 Orlando Magic vs No. 8 Atlanta Hawks
- No. 9 Chicago Bulls vs No. 10 Miami Heat
First Round:
- No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs No. 8 seed
- No. 2 Boston Celtics vs No. 7 seed
- No. 3 New York Knicks vs No. 6 Detroit Pistons
- No. 4 Indiana Pacers vs No. 5 Milwaukee Bucks
They were likely aided by the expanded Christmas Day schedule.
TNT went in the opposite direction, dropping seven percent to 1.3 million viewers.
NBA TV took the biggest hit, dropping a whopping 24 percent to 240,000 viewers per game.
While no one wants to see a decline in viewership, the NBA is doing better than other leagues across the US.
Last year the NFL dropped two percent, college basketball dropped seven percent, and the NHL is down 13 percent.