Rumors

NBA Communications: Knicks-Spurs was the most-watched NBA Finals in 28 years, averaging 20.6 million viewers per game on ABC and ESPN. The Knicks’ series-clinching win in Game 5 averaged 24.5 million viewers and peaked with 33 million viewers — marking the most-watched Game 5 in 28 years. The league also had its most-watched postseason in 28 years across ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and NBC/Peacock.

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A few factors will prevent the NBA from seeing truly exceptional viewership numbers. For one, ABC will not separately count streaming viewership the way NBC does through Adobe Analytics. Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, for example, averaged 8.3 million viewers when combining TV and streaming, but only 7.029 million on NBC alone. The combined streaming number surpasses the corresponding ECF game, but the TV number alone does not. Peacock is a much cheaper streaming service than ESPN Unlimited, and if the Adobe Analytics number is to be believed, not having the same streaming visibility for the Finals is likely leaving viewers on the table.

Awful Announcing

NBA Communications: The NBA Playoffs are the most-watched in 28 years with an average of 5.3 million viewers per game across ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock and Prime Video.

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NBA Communications: The Western Conference Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder finished as the most-watched Conference Finals in 24 years with an average of 10.8 million viewers per game on NBC/Peacock. San Antonio’s victory over Oklahoma City in Game 7 averaged 15.9 million viewers, peaking with 17.7 million viewers.

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Richard Deitsch: NBC Sports said Game 6 between Spurs-Thunder averaged 11.6 million viewers on NBC and Peacock. Most-watched game of the season which will surely be topped by Game 7. Blue Jays-Mariners Game 7 on Fox properties did 9.1 million viewers; Daytona 500 this year did 7.49M; CFP semis averaged 16.8M on ESPN Networks if you want some random comps.

Twitter

NBA on NBC and Peacock: Joe Mazzulla believes his Coach of the Year award should go to the entire Celtics coaching staff.

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CHARLES BARKLEY: "I think that Adam Silver's got to get a hold of this thing. I think the games are too disjointed right now. Like NBC, Peacock, Amazon, we've got, I think we have disrespected the fans. They don't know when the games are on. I just think that's really unfair to the fans. And I understand, Adam, I love Adam. Adam's a great guy. But he took the most money, but man, it's hard for me. When we weren't having games, I had to go to my app and see where the game was at."

YouTube

NBA Communications: The 2025-26 Kia NBA All-Defensive Team and the NBA Social Justice Champion award will be announced tomorrow night at 7:30 PM ET on Peacock. Updated awards schedule ⬇️

Twitter

NBA Communications: The 2025-26 Kia NBA All-Rookie Team will be announced tonight at 7:30 PM ET on Peacock. Upcoming awards schedule ⬇️

Twitter

NBA Communications: The NBA Playoffs are delivering their highest viewership through the Conference Semifinals in 29 years, with an average of 4.5 million viewers per game across ABC, ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime Video.

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The WNBA has significantly increased its record-setting media deal. The WNBA’s 11-year deal is worth $3.1 billion with partners Disney (ABC/ESPN), NBCUniversal (NBC/Peacock), Amazon (Prime Video), Paramount (CBS), Scripps (Ion), USA Sports (USA Network), and NBA TV, a source familiar with the league’s deals confirmed to Front Office Sports. The average annual value of the new media deal is $281 million, about 6.5 times more than the previous deal’s AAV of $43 million. The WNBA added CBS, Scripps, and Amazon as partners over the last few years, bringing its total media revenue to around $60 million last year.

Front Office Sports

Launched in 2023, EverPass looks to deliver sports streaming to commercial establishments. Owned by the NFL, RedBird Capital Partners and TKO Group Holdings (parent company of UFC and WWE), the company started as the only business-to-business distributor for NFL Sunday Ticket. They have since expanded to include an exclusive deal with NBC’s Peacock, Apple TV, ESPN+ for Business, NFL Sunday Ticket, Paramount+ and Prime Video. EverPass has also streamed the NFL’s Netflix-only content, UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup. That covers virtually every streaming platform that has acquired exclusive rights to major live sports. “They need a legal way to stream this content,” CEO Alex Kaplan told The Athletic. “You need to give it to them in a productized way that’s built for business, because it’s not the same thing as residential and that’s why we’re here.

New York Times

NBA Communications: Game 7 of the 76ers/Celtics series on May 2 averaged 11 million viewers on NBC/Peacock – the most-watched first-round Game 7 ever and the most-watched first-round game in 27 years. The first round of the NBA Playoffs was the most-viewed in 33 years, averaging 4 million viewers per game across ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and NBC/Peacock.

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Contractually, NBC is allowed to put as much as half of its early round inventory on Peacock, but there are no indications either way as to how many games will be set aside for the streaming service this season. All games that air primarily on Peacock will be simulcast on NBCSN.

Sports Media Watch