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Game 1 of the 2020 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat was the least watched Finals game in almost 30 years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Wednesday's contest drew 7.41 million viewers to ABC, the smallest audience for a Finals game since Game 5 of the 1994 Finals between the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks, which drew a 7.8 rating but had the broadcast interrupted by the infamous O.J. Simpson slow-moving car chase in Los Angeles.
Total viewers began to be regularly recorded in 1994.
Game 3 of the 2003 Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and New Jersey Nets had the previous low of 8.06 million viewers.
Wednesday also marked the lowest-rated Game 1 since the 2007 series between the Spurs and LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers. U.S. viewership for the Heat-Lakers opener was down about 45 percent from the first game of the 2019 Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors.
As CNBC noted, ESPN/ABC typically publicizes viewership numbers on its website, but did not do so on Thursday.
In general, restarted live sports have seen significant viewership declines across the board during the pandemic, and the NBA's bubble playoffs ahead of the Finals have been victimized by low ratings. There are various theories for why viewership has been down, though the unorthodox programming schedule and unusual overlap with other sports (including football) is certainly a factor.
Game 2 of the Finals between the Heat and Lakers will take place on Friday night. Hopefully for the league and its broadcast partners at Disney, a Lakers' dominant 116-98 victory in Game 1—exacerbated by injuries to Heat stars Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic, who are doubtful to play Friday—will not contribute to a further decline in viewership.
