And suddenly, the unexpected happened… The NBA’s television ratings for the opening weekend of the playoffs have been the best the league has seen in 25 years! Commissioner Adam Silver announced this on Tuesday, calling the news “fantastic,” and looking forward to the rest of the postseason.
Silver couldn’t hide his excitement at the CAA World Congress of Sports event. He had a special grin on his face when sharing the news he’d been waiting to deliver since taking over as commissioner a decade ago.
The first eight playoff games, played during Easter weekend, pulled in record viewership numbers.
“Highest-rated opening weekend in 25 years… so the numbers are fantastic,” Silver said.
The league later released official ratings showing these games averaged 4.4 million viewers—a whopping 17% increase over last year’s playoff openers.
ESPN confirmed it was their most-watched opening weekend ever. The Orlando-Boston game on Sunday drew nearly 6.7 million viewers, with the audience peaking at over 8 million.
That’s a lot of basketball fans.
Silver seems particularly excited about how digital platforms can reach fans in new ways.
“Think of the ManningCast but on steroids,” he explained. “Essentially unlimited numbers of alternative channels.”
The strong numbers are especially impressive considering the season’s slow start. Silver noted that the World Series and presidential election stole much of the spotlight early in the 2024-25 campaign.
But viewership picked up steadily throughout the year, culminating in this record-breaking playoff weekend.
“I think you saw tremendous competition around the league…healthy stars, a trade that attracted a lot of attention. A bunch of things happened in the league and that generated a lot of interest,” Silver said.
With numbers like these, the NBA’s postseason is off to a promising start.
