Skip to content

NBA Playoff Ratings Reportedly Suffered A Decline In Viewership

Top Sportsbooks

9.9

Bovada

75% Cash Bonus
Read Review
9.8

BetOnline

100% Free Play
Read Review
9.6

Heritage Sports

100% Free Play Bonus
Read Review
9.6

BetAnySports

30% Cash Bonus
Read Review
9.5

Everygame

100% Cash Bonus
Read Review
9.5

Bookmaker

25% Cash Bonus
Read Review

carolinakid

carolinakid

Joined
Oct 20, 2021
Messages
39,046
The NBA playoffs have come and gone with a bit of a dud following a disappointing and uneventful NBA Finals that saw the Boston Celtics take out the Dallas Mavericks in five games, most of which were complete blowouts. Some early series were classics, but overall, television ratings did not paint the postseason in a positive light. Sports Media Watch shared data from the 2024 NBA Playoffs and pointed out a significant decline in viewership compared to last season, with ratings dropping by 11 percent to 2.4. Viewership dropped by 12 percent to 4.53 million, meaning the Finals has […]

The NBA playoffs have come and gone with a bit of a dud following a disappointing and uneventful NBA Finals that saw the Boston Celtics take out the Dallas Mavericks in five games, most of which were complete blowouts. Some early series were classics, but overall, television ratings did not paint the postseason in a positive light. Sports Media Watch shared data from the 2024 NBA Playoffs and pointed out a significant decline in viewership compared to last season, with ratings dropping by 11 percent to 2.4. Viewership dropped by 12 percent to 4.53 million, meaning the Finals has […]© Provided by The Cold Wire

The NBA playoffs have come and gone with a bit of a dud following a disappointing and uneventful NBA Finals that saw the Boston Celtics take out the Dallas Mavericks in five games, most of which were complete blowouts.

Some early series were classics, but overall, television ratings did not paint the postseason in a positive light.


Sports Media Watch shared data from the 2024 NBA Playoffs and pointed out a significant decline in viewership compared to last season, with ratings dropping by 11 percent to 2.4.

Viewership dropped by 12 percent to 4.53 million, meaning the Finals has now gone five years without a single game hitting the 14 million mark, a number that even the World Series has reached more recently.


There are a lot of ways to look at this, and the obvious blame can be placed on ratings and viewership declining across the board in general as people gravitate more towards other forms of entertainment.

From a basketball perspective, this was a matchup between two iconic franchises in big markets led by two of the game’s brightest young stars, so one would expect more viewership even though there was no LeBron James, Stephen Curry, or Kevin Durant this time.


VideoBlue.svg
Related video: Celtics Cap Off One of the Most Dominant Playoff Runs in NBA History (Stadium)
Celtics Cap Off One of the Most Dominant Playoff Runs in NBA History
The "Inside the Association" crew breaks down the Celtics' historic run in this season's playoffs.
gone undefeated with their run in the playoffs. How do you think the Celtics team will be
Pause
Unmute

Current Time 0:13
/
Duration 3:10
Loaded: 31.14%



1x
Playback Rate
Captions
Fullscreen

Many have also criticized ESPN and ABC’s broadcasting, as they have failed to make the games feel important due to not showing player pregame intros, removing the Larry O’Brien trophy logo on the court, having lackluster pregame and halftime shows, and littering the court and broadcast with ads.

The blowouts certainly didn’t help, and the storylines weren’t really there in this matchup, but the NBA needs to work on the broadcast and make these games feel bigger.
 

RRsilver

RRsilver

Joined
Nov 2, 2021
Messages
5,799
they killing the sport because of money, very sad
Do you think it's just the money? The product they are putting out is in decline, I think.
Everybody loves a lot of 3 pointers and dunks.
It is usually good for ratings, but at some point, you have to guard someone!!
In the early 90's most people even ones that did not watch the NBA could name all the top players. Most new all the names on the dream team. Today the average person would struggle to name 5 playing in the NBA. Maybe I feel that way because I live in an area that is dominated by collage sports. But it just feels that way and I'm a sports fan.
 
Top