Those Finals took place at a completely different time on the sports calendar (October), and competed against the NFL regular season and MLB playoffs. In 2020, part of the cause for the worst Finals ratings in history was the pandemic. Commissioner Adam Silver could have used either of the Los Angeles teams (Clippers or Lakers) in the West and the Nets’ Dream Team or the 76ers in the East to enhance the Nielsen ratings. One factor is that Milwaukee and Phoenix are smaller-market clubs. The 2021 NBA Finals ratings are down significantly from 2019. The total viewership through three games in 2019 was 40.8 million compared to this year’s 26.95 million. Still, the 2019 Nielsen figure is pounding the current numbers. The stunning part is in 2019, there was no local market for one of the clubs, the Raptors. Compared to the 2019 NBA Finals between the Raptors and Warriors, the numbers are suffering.Īccording to Nielsen, the viewership through the first three games of 2021 compared to 2019 is down an average 4.63 million - or 34 percent. On Tuesday, ESPN/ABC released a statement that viewership, through the first three games, is up 33 percent over last year’s Finals between the Lakers and Heat, averaging nearly 9 million viewers.īut that was only part of the story.
NBA officials are happy Nielsen ratings are up for these NBA Finals between the Suns and Bucks over last year’s disaster from the fan-less Disney World bubble.īut the league still has a long way to go to equal pre-pandemic ratings figures.
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