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The NBA has a ratings issue with the NBA Finals.
On Thursday, Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks faced off against Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics in game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Unfortunately, the ratings for game 1 did not do well despite the fact that several stars were featured in the game.
According to Sports Media Watch, game 1 between the Mavs and Celtics was the least-watched game 1 of the NBA Finals outside of the COVID seasons (2020, 2021) since 2007.
Thursday’s Mavericks-Celtics NBA Finals Game 1 averaged a 5.7 rating and 10.99 million viewers on ABC (11.04 million including 43,000 on ESPN Deportes), topping only the two COVID-era series of 2020 (Heat-Lakers: 4.1, 7.69M) and 2021 (Bucks-Suns: 4.5, 8.70M) as the least-watched Game 1 of the Finals since 2007.
Ratings and viewership declined 5% from last year’s Heat-Nuggets Game 1, which drew a 6.0 and 11.58 million on ABC and ESPN2
The good news for the NBA is that the league is about to finalize a record-breaking $76 million media rights deal despite the terrible ratings.