Stanley Cup, NBA Finals draw huge crowds
Highest numbers seen in years – with an assist from Nielsen changes
This year’s Stanley Cup and NBA Finals were big winners this year – with a little help from Nielsen adjusting its methodology. (change)
This year, Nielsen made some adjustments in how it measures TV audiences – since 2020, the company started adding out-of-home viewing to its totals and in the last year, measuring it in all 210 television markets, answering a complaint networks have long had about ratings – failing to reach viewers in hotels, bars, restaurants, and other public places. This year, Nielsen started adding data from smart TVs and set-top boxes – known as “Big Data”, making ratings measurement more accurate (which means no more written diaries.)
As a result, we’ve seen ratings jumps for television shows – especially live events such as sports. This year, the new methodology has benefited leagues, with numbers not seen since the 1980s in some cases. And the biggest beneficiaries as of late are the NBA and NHL.
The recent NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks was a ratings winner for ABC, despite the series lasting only five games as the Knicks won their first NBA title since 1973. The series drew 20.6 million viewers and a 9.8 household rating on average – making it the most-watched Finals since 1998, when the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz in six games, Michael Jordan’s final game with the team he won six titles with. For ABC, it was the most-watched NBA Finals ever, topping the 2017 series between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavailers. Compared to last year’s underwhelming Oklahoma City Thunder-Indiana Pacers series, Knicks-Spurs – a rematch of the 1999 NBA Finals, was up 100 percent in total viewers. Credit more compelling storylines, including the Spurs’ budding superstar Victor Wembanyama and the Knicks’ 53-year title drought (and being from the top market in the country) as more reasons for the ratings increases.
Despite airing on Saturday night – historically the lowest homes-using-television night of the week, the Knicks’ game five come-from-behind win over the Spurs drew 24. 5 million viewers – the most-watched program on in Saturday prime-time since an NFL playoff game in January, peaking at 33 million viewers. Across all platforms, the NBA Playoffs saw huge ratings increases this year as the bulk of games shifted from cable to broadcast and streaming, thanks to the NBA’s new eleven-year deal with games airing on NBC, ESPN/ABC, Amazon, and Peacock.
In all, the 2026 NBA Finals was the most-watched sporting championship (outside of the Super Bowl) since the 2016 World Series, when the Chicago Cubs beat Cleveland in seven games.
Meanwhile, the Stanley Cup Finals between two medium-sized markets in the (Las) Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes also benefited from Nielsen’s methodology changes, as the Finals drew 5.23 million viewers and a 2.5 household rating – making it into the top five as the most-watched Stanley Cup Finals since 1994 as the Carolina Hurricanes won their second Stanley Cup in franchise history, defeating the Golden Knights in six games. This also comes despite Scripps’ ABC affiliate KTNV in Las Vegas being blacked out on DirecTV as the satellite provider is in a retrains dispute with the stations owner. Ranking fifth, Golden-Knights-Hurricanes trails only the 2019, 2015, 2013, and 1997 Stanley Cup Final telecasts. The series easily cleared last year’s Edmonton Oilers-Florida Panthers Cup finals on TNT, up 106 percent thanks mainly to the games airing on ABC, and not having a Canadian team depressing the ratings.
The game six clincher for the Hurricanes Sunday night drew 5.29 million, peaking at 7.2 million for the final quarter hour (9:45 p.m. CT.), also up from the game six clincher featuring Oilers-Panthers on TNT and the same two teams on ABC in 2024 (that series went seven.)
The NHL Playoffs on ESPN/ABC and TNT also scored increased numbers compared to last year, averaging 1.8 million viewers – up 68 percent, and despite featuring no New York Rangers or Chicago Blackhawks teams, as the latter hasn’t made the playoffs in nine years (excluding the 2020 “bubble” series.)
Also benefiting from this year’s NBA and NHL’s Finals successes was ABC’s owned-and-operated stations in New York (WABC) and Raleigh-Durham (WTVD) as they saw huge ratings and revenue from their market’s respective teams making it into the championship (and of course, winning their titles.) This comes as FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is targeting the eight-station group’s licenses for alleged “DEI violations”, including WLS-TV here in Chicago.