Despite the best possible matchup on paper, the ratings for the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers have been lackluster.
The NBA got the dream matchup for the NBA Finals with the 73-win Golden State Warriors led by unanimous MVP Stephen Curry going against four-time MVP LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The two teams were the top seeds in their conferences and gave fans the two biggest stars in the game on center stage for the NBA Finals.
But after four games, the television ratings have been downright disappointing.
According to SI’s Richard Deitsch, this year’s Finals are averaging 17,367,000 viewers which is more than 2.5 million below last year’s average audience that saw nearly 20 million viewers for the six-game series won by Golden State over Cleveland.
The 2016 NBA Finals is averaging 17,367,000 viewers. Last year's finals averaged 19.939 viewers over six games.
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) June 11, 2016
The biggest reason for the decline in viewership can be attributed to three straight blowouts to start the series. Golden State dominated Cleveland in the first two games that were largely over by halftime and Cleveland led wire-to-wire in Game 3 when they won by 30 points.
Further, Curry hasn’t been the lethal sharpshooter he’s been for the last two-plus seasons in the first three games and I think there could be a fatigue factor with LeBron playing in his sixth straight Finals.
Game 4, however, was a close game that featured some back and forth action until the Warriors pulled away late but it seems inevitable that the series will end in Game 5 and it could be in blowout fashion, which won’t entice viewers to tune in.
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