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On Wednesday, the NBA had a successful slate of Christmas Day games, headlined by an epic clash between LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers won that game courtesy of a last second layup from Austin Reaves, but it was one of four games throughout the day that went down to the closing seconds.
Much has been made thus far this year of the NBA's perceived ratings problem, and the league made sure to hit back against those claims with some television data from their slate of Christmas games.
“The NBA delivered its most-watched Christmas Day in five years, with viewership up 84% vs. last year across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+. The NBA on Christmas Day averaged 5.25 million viewers per game in the U.S.,” wrote the official NBA Communications account on X, formerly Twitter.
The account also noted that the game between the Lakers and Warriors was the most watched regular season game in five years, averaging 7.76 million viewers and peaking with 8.32 million viewers.
Furthermore, ESPN PR reported that their viewership was up 84% from Christmas of last year with an average viewership of 5.25 million.
The NBA punches back
The NBA was in direct competition with its friends over at the NFL on Christmas, as the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Pittsburgh Steelers, followed by a matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans.
Thankfully for Adam Silver and his higher-ups, neither NFL game was particularly competitive, while four out of the five NBA contests went right down to the wire. The afternoon started off with a thriller between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs in which both Mikal Bridges and Victor Wembanyama eclipsed the 40-point plateau.
Elsewhere, the Minnesota Timberwolves held on for dear life against the Dallas Mavericks after relinquishing a huge lead, and the Boston Celtics saw their furious comeback fall short at home against the revamped Philadelphia 76ers.
Altogether, it was a successful day for the NBA as they try to confront a ratings issue that has led to rampant discussion about the lack of distinguished personalities in the league at the present moment as well as the continuance of the three-point revolution.
Of course, it was just one day, and there's still the majority of the season to be played, but for now, all of those with a vested interest in the NBA's viewership ratings can breathe a little easier.
