Viewing to the 2023 NBA playoffs are at their highest level since before the pandemic. The increases are across both Disney (ESPN/ABC) and Turner Sports (TNT). The playoffs have benefited from upsets, long-time rivalries, compelling matchups and record setting individual performances. Also, the NBA (along with other premiere sporting events), have benefitted from Nielsen, which in 2020, added out-of-home viewing to its national ratings. On the other hand, both ESPN and TNT have had their distribution severely diminished by cord-cutting. In just first quarter 2023 alone, pay-tv lost a record 2.3 million subscribers. Pay-tv household penetration is now at their lowest level in over thirty years.

NBA continues to be a popular vehicle with advertisers. According to iSpot, last year, the playoffs reaped $842.4 million in ad revenue for Disney and Turner Sports. According to SponsorUnited, for the 2022-23 regular season, the NBA earned $1.4 billion in team sponsorships, a 10% increase from the 2021-22. The NBA postseason also had record high interaction on social media. This increased interest in the NBA comes at a time when media rights negotiations will soon be up renewal.

Play-in: The NBA’s play-in tournament now in its fourth season is here to stay. According to Sports Media Watch, this year’s play-in games on TNT and ESPN averaged 2.46 million viewers a 5% increase from last year. The top-rated game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves averaged 3.47 million viewers on TNT. By comparison, for the 2022-23 regular season, NBA games averaged 1.59 million viewers. Sports Video Group reports there were 441 million video views on social media, an increase of 63% from last season’s tournament.

Opening Round: The opening round of the playoffs averaged 3.4 million viewers, a year-over-year increase of 15%, and the highest in nine years. According to Front Office Sports, the games on Disney’s ESPN/ABC averaged 4.5 million viewers, an increase of 18%. The games on TNT averaged 3.5 million viewers, a 6% increase from 2022. It was also the most watched opening round in five years. Furthermore, during the first round, NBA social posted 2.6 billion views, a year-over-year increase of 46%.

The highlight of the opening round was Game 7 between the Sacramento Kings, who last appeared in the postseason in 2006, and the defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors. That final game of the series on ABC, averaged 9.88 million viewers, the most watched opening round game in 24 years. It was also the most watched non-NBA Finals game ever televised on ABC. In a winning effort, the Warriors Steph Curry scored 50 points, a record for any Game 7 NBA playoff game.

The biggest upset of the opening round, was #8 seed Miami Heat toppling the top seeded Milwaukee Bucks in five games. It marked only the sixth time since 1984, an eighth seeded team knocked off the top seeded team, and the first time since 2012. In Game 4, Miami’s Jimmy Butler scored 56 points, tied for fourth as the most points scored by a player in a playoff game. The series clinching Game 5 aired on the smaller rated NBA TV, and averaged 934,000 viewers, the best showing on that network in nine years. In another upset, the lower seeded New York Knicks defeated Cleveland Cavaliers, to advance to the conference semifinals for first time in ten years.

Conference Semifinals: The conference semifinals were highlighted by two rivalries. In the Western Conference, the LeBron James led Los Angeles Lakers faced, the Steph Curry led Golden State Warriors. In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers resumed their playoff rivalry, first begun six decades ago, with Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.

The six-game Lakers-Warriors series generated an average audience of 7.8 million. The most watched conference semifinal since 1996, when the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls defeated the New York Knicks which drew 11.2 million viewers on NBC and TNT. This season the deciding Game 6 (won by the Lakers) averaged 8.6 million viewers on ESPN. The most watched conference semifinals game since 2011.

The Celtics-76ers series went a full seven games. In the Game 7, won by the Celtics, Boston’s Jayson Tatum scored 51 points, surpassing Steph Curry’s two-week old record for most points by a player in a Game 7. That game played on Mother’s Day afternoon averaged 8.4million viewers on ABC.

Heading into the conference finals, NBA playoff ratings remain strong. ESPN says its 27 playoff games on ESPN/ABC have averaged 5.2 million viewers, the highest in two decades and a 14% increase from 2022. TNT reports their NBA games have averaged 4.1 million viewers, a 10% increase from 2022, and the most watched since 2014. Overall, Sports Media Watch notes, the three networks ESPN/ABC/TNT) have collectively averaged 4.6 million viewers, the best in twelve years.

Conference Finals: This year TNT televised the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat. It marks the third time in the past four seasons the two teams have clashed in the ECF. ESPN/ABC televised the Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets. With the conference finals set, many fans (and probably advertisers and ABC), were hoping for another Lakers and Celtics NBA Finals. The two teams have each won 17 NBA titles, by far more than any other franchise. In addition, they have met in the NBA Finals a record twelve times. The last time they clashed was in 2010. Alas, it was not to be.

The Western Conference Finals wound up being a four-game sweep won by Denver. The conference finals on ESPN/ABC averaged 7.9 million viewers, the highest audience for any conference finals in five years. The third game of the series on ABC averaged 8.4 million viewers. The fourth (and final) game averaged 8.2 million viewers on ESPN. The Denver Nuggets will be appearing in its first NBA Final. Denver had been one of the four franchises that joined the NBA from the defunct American Basketball Association (ABA) starting with the 1976-77 season. Denver never won an ABA championship either.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston found themselves behind three games to zero against Miami. Boston, has since won the next two games, with hopes of becoming the first NBA team in 151 tries, to mount a come back and win, a postseason series, when once down by three games. On the other hand, Miami, which in the past has won three NBA titles, is seeking to be the only the second #8 seed, to play in the NBA Finals (after the New York Knicks in 1999). Sportico reports through the first four games of the ECF, year-over-year viewing is up 12%.

The NBA Finals starts on ABC on June 1. Last season’s NBA Finals averaged 12.4 million viewers, the highest since before the pandemic. Golden State defeated Boston in six games.