NBA Finals, Stanley Cup conclude with mixed ratings results

Florida repeats while OKC wins their first title, but the world was either at the beach or festivals

[Editor’s Note: This article was updated on June 25 to update ratings numbers.]

Summer’s here and the time is right – we’re dancing in the streets and not at home watching championship basketball or hockey.

The NBA and NHL playoffs have just concluded, yielding mixed ratings results as the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder drew lackluster numbers and seemed headed for an all-time low. The series went to a seventh game and drew 16.61 million viewers Sunday for ABC (peaking at 19.28 million), the highest ratings for any NBA game since 2019. The game was marred by Tyrese Halliburton’s Achilles injury, who was already playing hurt for the Pacers. Previously known as the Seattle Supersonics until 2008 when they moved to Oklahoma City, The Thunder clinched the first pro sports title for Oklahoma’s state capital, and the first for the franchise since 1979, just before Larry Bird and Magic Johnson entered the league. 

Despite the big number, the overall average for the NBA Finals was at 10.27 million viewers, down nine percent from the five-game Boston-Dallas Finals last year. It was the least-watched NBA Finals since 2021, when COVID-19 delays pushed it to July. Though game five, the series was averaging 9.18 million, an all-time low (excluding 2020), had the series finished then. However, the full NBA Playoffs were up ten percent on ESPN/ABC, averaging 6.12 million, and up five percent on all networks with an average of 4.74 million. 

Meanwhile, the Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and the defending champion Florida Panthers which saw them repeat, did not resonate with an average of 2.5 million for TNT, down 40 percent from last year’s matchup between these same two teams on ABC. Game six did reach a series-high 2.8 million, but that was down from the 4.45 million earned in 1999 – the last game six to air on cable – when the Dallas Stars’ Brett Hull scored a controversial goal (in the crease, which was against the rules at the time) to win the Stanley Cup over the Buffalo Sabres on ESPN. 

In Canada, the Final drew an average of 3.91 million viewers across multiple networks – no doubt helped by the presence of Edmonton. Unlike the 4 Nations Face-Off, which received higher ratings than the Stanley Cup in both the U.S. and Canada, the Cup wasn’t an unifying event to bring Canadians together, as evidenced by dissenting Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames fans.

The low Stanley Cup Final numbers on TNT doesn’t bode well for the NASCAR Cup race in Chicago next month, as it moves to TNT this year from NBC as part of a new TV deal. The race was already down 45 percent in the ratings locally from the inaugural edition in 2022. 

The Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged just 1.1 million viewers in the U.S., but nearly doubled that number in Canada, making it the most-watched postseason in that country since 2011. 

The coverage of the NBA Finals on ESPN/ABC was criticized by viewers for being condescending, particularly the behavior of Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins, which many found offensive. The constant conversation about ratings was another annoying distraction, at least on social media and the non-trade press, and it’s been a pain all season – best to leave all the viewership analysis to the experts (like me). If there’s one upside to the Bulls’ lackluster season, is the absence of such talk on our local media outlets.

Both events were pushed well into June for the last few years. Not only did the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final have to compete with other programming options (including baseball), but also life in general including the beach, outdoor festivals, and other summer activities, as temperatures soared well into the 90s in many areas. Game six of the NBA Finals fell on Juneteenth this year, whereas the NBA’s core demo was out celebrating the holiday. It wasn’t a surprise that numbers were down from games four and five, drawing just 9.28 million viewers, down considerably from 2022’s game six when Golden State clinched the title over Boston. 

This NBA season marks the last under the old deal as a new pact begins in October with ESPN/ABC, Amazon, and NBCUniversal as partners, paying $76 billion for the privilege.