NBA ratings suffers dip despite pulling impressive numbers on opening night

NBA viewership takes a hit after a strong opening night as the numbers decline in subsequent games by 42% on ESPN and 29% on TNT.

NBA ratings suffers dip despite pulling impressive numbers on opening night

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver

It all went well for the NBA during the new season’s opening week. However, that promising start didn’t last long as it faltered during the mid-week. At the start of the season, TNT’s 6% year-over-year viewership increased on opening night. The subsequent national windows on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday experienced a sudden decline.

Furthermore, ESPN’s Wednesday doubleheader averaged 1.6 million viewers. This was a 42% drop from the 2023 opening games that featured reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama’s debut. If that is taken back to 2022, viewership rose 5% without Wembanyama.

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Also, TNT’s Thursday viewership had declined by 29% year-over-year, with the Spurs-Mavericks game drawing 1.45 million viewers. It even got worse as Friday’s Pacers-Knicks game on ESPN attracted just 830,000 viewers. This was fewer than a college football game on ESPN2.

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Traditionally, the NBA has struggled with its viewership compared to the more popular NFL. Despite the slow start, the NBA’s viewership prospects remain positive as Christmas Day games will be simulcast on ABC. This, in turn, will potentially boost irregular season viewership.

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WNBA closes viewership gap with NBA

It’s also great news for the WNBA as it has narrowed the viewership gap with the NBA. It seems the Caitlin Clark effect happened as her debut with the Indiana Fever drew 2.1 million viewers on ESPN2. This number surpassed ESPN’s first NBA telecasts (1.6 million viewers).

While the NBA still leads overall, the WNBA’s growth is notable as it was noted that in the 2023-2024 season, NBA regular season games averaged 1.6 million viewers across TNT, ABC, and ESPN. The WNBA regular season averaged 1.19 million viewers on ESPN platforms and 1.1 million on CBS. Furthermore, WNBA contests that featured Clark performed 199% better than other matchups.

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This was also evident in the drop in viewership when her Fever team got eliminated by the Connecticut Sun team. While the WNBA Finals still trailed the NBA Finals in viewership, the gap has begun to close. And as the WNBA grows, it’s feasible that the competition will continue to get closer, especially with Clark’s rising star power.