According to Sports Media Watch, Wednesday night’s Game 7 between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder was the most-watched opening round NBA playoff game on cable television in two years. It was also the top-rated first-round game on ESPN in three years.
The Rockets-Thunder Game 7 was the largest audience for any NBA game on any network since January 31, 2020. That January game was the first for the Los Angeles Lakers following the death of Kobe Bryant, and it was lifted by an extensive pregame ceremony in front of home fans.
Here’s how Sports Media Watch summarizes the Game 7 data:
Wednesday’s Thunder-Rockets Game 7 averaged 4.11 million viewers on ESPN, marking the most-watched opening round playoff game on cable in two years (2018 Cavaliers-Pacers Game 4: 6.07M) and the most-watched on ESPN in three (2017 Warriors-Blazers Game 3: 4.38M).
Houston’s narrow win delivered the largest NBA audience since Blazers-Lakers on January 31 (4.41M), comfortably topping the previous mark of 3.83 million for Lakers-Blazers Game 3 on ABC August 22.
Viewership increased 17% over the comparable window of last year’s playoffs, Game 2 of a Blazers-Nuggets second round series on TNT (3.51M). Last year’s game aired exclusively on TNT, while this year’s game co-existed with RSN coverage in both Houston and Oklahoma City.
The Thunder-Rockets figure was up by 18% relative to Game 7 of the 2019 first-round series between Denver and San Antonio. That was the only seventh game in the opening round a season ago.
Thunder-Rockets Game 7 most-watched NBA game since January 31, most-watched first round game on cable since 2018, most-watched first round game on ESPN since 2017.
Five of 11 most-watched NBA games since 7/30 restart have come since suspension of play: https://t.co/PFYjY3mKoO
— Sports Media Watch (@paulsen_smw) September 3, 2020
Per Sports Media Watch, Rockets-Thunder Game 7 easily won the night among key young adult demographics (for advertisers). In all, five of the NBA’s 11 most-watched games since the 2019-20 season’s July 30 restart have come since the three-day suspension of play last week, which occurred due to racial justice protests by players.
Some politicians had suggested that the movement was causing some viewers to tune out. While the true ratings picture won’t become clear until later in the playoffs, the Thunder-Rockets number is certainly an encouraging interim signal to the NBA that its large audience is still there.
Thunder-#Rockets Game 7 had a 5.9 Nielsen rating in Houston on ESPN and was viewed by an average audience of 236,000 viewers. Numbers aren't available for @ATTSportsNetSW because the game was on the alternate channel.
— David Barron (@dfbarron) September 3, 2020
The lofty Rockets-Thunder figure of 4.11 million viewers on ESPN did outdraw the 3.39 million average for Game 7 between Denver and Utah on the previous night (on ABC). That could suggest that some of the ratings bump was attributable to the higher star power of the Houston vs. Oklahoma City series, which featured three future Hall of Famers in James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul.
It could also bode well for the impending second-round series between the Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers, which begins Friday night. That battle features teams from two of the four largest U.S. cities, as well as four All-Stars and headliners in Harden, Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis. All that should make for a very captive audience.
Beyond the players, Oklahoma City is actually the NBA’s second-smallest market, which could make room for an even larger ratings bump once they’re swapped out in favor of Los Angeles.
In another national ESPN broadcast, Game 1 of the Rockets-Lakers series at the NBA “bubble” tips off at 8:00 p.m. Central on Friday.
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