How Many People Watched The 2017 NBA Finals? Warriors, Cavaliers Draw Record Ratings

The 2017 NBA Finals didn’t provide the long series that basketball fans were hoping for, but the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers still drew a massive audience. The five-game set ended with the league’s best ratings since Michael Jordan won his final championship.

With an average viewership of 20.4 million Americans, more people watched the NBA Finals this year than they had in nearly two decades. The series pulled in its best numbers since the 1998 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz. ABC had its best ratings since the network acquired the Finals in 2003.

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The rubber match between the Warriors and Cavaliers out-rated the 2015 Finals and the 2016 Finals, even though those series lasted six and seven games, respectively. Monday’s clincher was seen by an average of 24.5 million viewers, and it was the most-watched Game 5 in 19 years. It drew a 16.0 rating, an increase of 13 percent from each of the last two Game 5’s between Cleveland and Golden State.

The final contest of the series peaked with an 18.8 rating between 11:30 p.m. EDT and 11:45 p.m. EDT. The San Francisco-Oakland market drew the biggest rating with a 39.6. Cleveland was just behind at 37.1.

Game 5 was the second-most streamed game in NBA history, according to ESPN. The contest generated more than two million unique visitors, only falling short of last year’s Game 7. Game 7 drew a 30.8 TV rating in 2016.

There has been much debate about the benefit of “super teams,” and whether or not the NBA was hurt by the reality that only Golden State and Cleveland had a chance to win the championship. The rivals breezed through their respective conferences, losing just one game combined. The entire playoffs were largely filled with blowouts, even in the Finals, though it didn’t appear to affect this year’s ratings. Only one Finals game was decided by fewer than nine points.

The Warriors and Cavs have been the NBA’s best teams for each of the last three years, but this year’s series had even more intrigue than the previous two matchups. By adding Kevin Durant in the offseason, Golden State set up a matchup between the league’s two best players. LeBron James has been the NBA’s No.1 star for the last decade, though Warriors’ point guard Stephen Curry has led the league in jersey sales for each of the past two years.

The 2017 NBA Finals featured seven players that made this year’s All-Star team. Curry, James and Durant have the NBA’s three best-selling jerseys, and Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving comes in at No.5. Golden State shooting guard Klay Thompson is 13th on the list.

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A lot can change in the offseason, but the oddsmakers fully expect Golden State and Cleveland to meet for a fourth straight time in the 2018 NBA Finals. There’s speculation that the Cavs will look to upgrade their roster in order to compete with the seemingly unbeatable Warriors.

If Cleveland presents a more formidable challenge next year, the Finals ratings could increase even more.