Audience For NBA Finals And Stanley Cup Finals Rebound Post Pandemic

With the resumption of a typical schedule, the ratings of the 2022 NBA Finals (played from June 2 to June 16) and the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals have rebounded to pre pandemic levels.

NBA Finals: The NBA Finals featured two of the NBA’s most popular franchises, the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics. After a two-year absence from the postseason Golden State captured their fourth NBA title in eight seasons defeating the Celtics in six games and seventh in franchise history. The championship solidified their basketball dynasty. In addition, Steph Curry won his first NBA Finals MVP enhancing his stature as an NBA great.

The NBA Finals aired in primetime on ABC and averaged 12.4 million viewers, making it the most watched in three years and a 25% increase from last season’s July’s Finals between Milwaukee and Phoenix. Despite the increase, of the six appearances Golden State has made in the NBA Finals since 2015, it was the least watched. In addition, the 2022 NBA Finals were the least watched when played in June since 2007. That year San Antonio swept Cleveland 4-0 and the NBA Finals averaged 9.3 million viewers.

Part of the audience erosion from the pre-pandemic years can be attributed to the loss of younger viewers. According to Sportico, 21% of the audience of the 2019 NBA Finals were in the 18-34 age group. That figure dropped to 17% in 2022. (By comparison, on average 7% of broadcast television’s audience is 18-34.) Similarly, the percentage of viewers 18-49 dropped from 45% in 2019 to 41% in 2022.

Nonetheless, all six NBA Finals games ranked among most-watched television programs of June, with Game 3 the least watched at 11.5 million and Game 6 the most watched with an average of 15.0 million viewers.

Audience Delivery NBA Finals 2015-2022

(In millions)

2022 12.4 6 games Golden State over Boston

2021 9.9 6 games Milwaukee over Phoenix

2020 7.5 6 games L.A. Lakers over Miami

2019 15.1 6 games Toronto over Golden State

2018 17.6 4 games Golden State over Cleveland

2017 20.4 5 games Golden State over Cleveland

2016 20.3 7 games Cleveland over Golden State

2015 19.9 6 games Golden State over Cleveland

Source: Nielsen

NBA Conference Finals: The two conference finals both reported an increase in viewership from the previous year. The seven-game Eastern Conference Finals between Boston and Miami averaged 7.0 million viewers on ABC/ESPN, a 40% increase from last year’s Eastern Conference Finals between Milwaukee and Atlanta (5.0 million viewers). The deciding Game 7 averaged 10.0 million viewers. It was the most watched conference final game since 2018.

The five game Western Conference Finals between Golden State and Dallas averaged 6.7 million viewers on TNT. This is a 23% increase from last year’s Western Conference Finals (Phoenix and L.A. Clippers) on ABC/ESPN.

Collectively, the two conference finals series averaged 6.9 million viewers, a 31% increase from last year’s 5.2 million. It was the most watched conference Finals since 2018. In addition, it marked the first time the Eastern Conference averaged more viewers than the Western Conference since 2014.

It comes at a time when the NBA and their media partners are eyeing a new contract. The current 9-year, $24 billion media rights agreement the NBA has with Disney and Turner Sports expires after the 2024-25 season. There are reports the NBA will be seeking a significant increase in rights fees that could reach $75 billion, at $7-$8 billion annually it is roughly a threefold increase from their current media rights agreement.

Stanley Cup Finals: For the first time since 2004, the Stanley Cup Finals was not televised on NBC or the now defunct NBCSN, but on ABC. The last time ABC televised the Stanley Cup finals was in 2004, when the broadcast network aired five of the seven games. For 2022 Stanley Cup Finals ABC televised the entire series in primetime and was streamed on ESPN+. This is part of the NHL’s new seven-year media rights agreement with Disney and Turner Sports at a cost of $625 million per annum. Disney will televise the Stanley Cup Finals in 2022, 2024, 2026 and 2028. Turner Sports, on TNT and TBS will televise the Stanley Cup Finals in 2023, 2025 and 2027. Similar to the NBA, Disney and Turner Sports will alternate televising the two conference finals each season

This year’s Stanley Cup Finals featured the Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche. With Colorado winning in six games. For Colorado it was their first Stanley Cup championship since 2001 and third in franchise history. Tampa Bay which had won the two previous Stanley Cups Cup in 2020 and 2021 was seeking to become the first team to win three consecutive Stanley Cups since the New York Islanders won four in a row, forty years ago.

Over the six games the Stanley Cup Finals generated an average audience of 4.6 million viewers, a strong uptick from the previous two Finals, but below the viewership to the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Finals. The deciding sixth game averaged 5.8 million viewers, the most watched Stanley Cup Finals game since Game 7 (St. Louis-Boston) in 2019 with an average 8.7 million viewers. The least watched 2022 Cup Finals was Game 3 with 3.7 million viewers.

Average Audience Stanley Cup Finals 2015-2022

(In millions)

2022 4.6 6 games Colorado over Tampa Bay

2021 2.4 5 games Tampa Bay over Montreal

2020 2.0 6 games Tampa Bay over Dallas

2019 5.3 7 games St. Louis over Boston

2018 4.9 5 games Washington over Vegas

2017 4.7 6 games Pittsburgh over Nashville

2016 4.0 6 games Pittsburgh over San Jose

2015 5.6 6 games Chicago over Tampa Bay

Source: Nielsen

Stanley Cup Conference Finals: The audience delivery of conference finals that led up to the Stanley Cup also performed well. The six-game Eastern Conference finals between Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers leading up to the Stanley Cup finals averaged 2.4 million viewers, an 82% spike from last year’s Eastern Conference finals. It was the highest rated since 2013. The sixth and deciding game on ESPN generated 2.8 million viewers the highest in the series.

Although the audience to the Western Conference finals were lower it still reported strong ratings when compared to previous years. Colorado defeated Edmonton in a four-game sweep. The series aired on TNT and averaged 1.8 million viewers. The highest rated Western Conference finals since 2015.