NBA confirms 86% viewership surge under new television agreements
The NBA has revealed that 170 million people in the United States watched regular-season games this year, marking an 86% increase fuelled by the league’s new broadcast partnerships.
This monumental growth represents the best domestic audience figures recorded by the North American basketball organisation in 24 years.
The staggering surge coincides with the first year of a groundbreaking 11-year media rights deal worth more than $76bn (£59.8bn).
New network partners drive record engagement
Fans consumed content across four primary platforms this season, including traditional stalwarts ABC and ESPN.
Amazon Prime Video joined the rotation for the very first time, bringing an entirely new streaming audience to the sport.
Meanwhile, NBC and its Peacock streaming service returned to the hardwood for the first time in a generation.
Historic milestones across multiple metrics
The positive trend extended well beyond standard television ratings, with the league releasing a series of impressive statistical milestones.
- Average network viewership jumped by 35% to reach its highest level in 13 years.
- People tuned into live basketball action for more than 920 million hours, the highest cumulative total since the 2011-12 campaign.
- The midseason All-Star Game captured an average audience of 8.8 million to secure its largest turnout since 2011.
- Interest in the in-season NBA Cup group stage skyrocketed with a 90% viewing increase.
Social media and physical attendance boom
Digital engagement easily matched the traditional broadcast success.
The organisation’s official social media channels generated an unprecedented 228 billion views over the course of the campaign.
Physical attendance over the past three seasons in arenas across the continent is now higher than any other three-year span in history.
A total of 57 individual telecasts reached an average of at least two million viewers, further cementing the sport’s growing cultural footprint.
