Fansided

NBA Finals ratings were the highest since the ’90s

By Stanford Crissey

Jun 16, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; The Golden State Warriors celebrate after winning game six of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Warriors won 105-97. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 16, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; The Golden State Warriors celebrate after winning game six of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Warriors won 105-97. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The last time the NBA Finals had such high ratings, Michael Jordan was involved

Next: Worst NBA Finals Starters of All-Time

Despite the seeming inevitability of the Warriors’ eventual win, the 2015 NBA Finals was a great series. We got to see the Warriors drain threes, JR Smith do JR Smith things, and we saw how close LeBron James can come to winning a championship basically by himself.

Accordingly, the series, high on stardom and compelling storylines, is the most-viewed NBA Finals since 1998, which featured the great Michael Jordan in his last hurrah against the Utah Jazz. (As to those who would claim his last hurrah was with the Wizards from 2001-2003: that never happened, and nothing you say can convince me otherwise).

The 2015 series averaged 19.939 million viewers over the six games, the most since 1998, when a crazy 29 million viewers watched the Bulls and the Jazz. The final game of this year’s series, Golden State’s 105-97 Game 6 win on Tuesday night, nearly matched the 1998 numbers, drawing 23.25 million viewers and peaking with 28.744 million from 11:45 p.m. to midnight, according to Sports Illustrated’s numbers.

Last year’s series between the Heat and the Spurs drew 15.5 million fans by comparison. It’s the most-watched Finals series ever on ABC, which acquired the rights to the NBA’s championship series in 2002, tragically leaving the great NBA on NBC theme as a victim in its wake.

It’s the culmination of a return to form for the NBA, which has bounced back nicely from the 2011 lockout to regain its popularity, which waned in the starless post-Jordan years as fans tried and failed to get excited about players like Baron Davis and Tracy McGrady as the new faces of the NBA.

Now, with the new face of the NBA (LeBron) cast as a hero rather than a villain, the league and its championship series are thriving.

Fans of small-market teams and parity will note that viewership peaked in a series between two decidedly small-market teams, the Cavs (Cleveland) and the Warriors (Oakland), which beat out the likes of Los Angeles-Boston, LA-New Jersey, and Miami-Dallas.

Maybe everyone just wanted to watch Matthew Dellavedova do his thing. But in any case, this is big news for the NBA as it surges to new highs in TV revenues, as the league quietly tries to steal the NFL’s throne as the country’s biggest sport. One more high-publicized crime, and the nation’s affections could belong to basketball.

More from Cleveland Cavaliers

Home/Cleveland Cavaliers