Knicks-Spurs Finals Draw Largest NBA Audience Since 1998
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The New York Knicks’ championship series against the San Antonio Spurs averaged 20.6 million viewers across television and streaming platforms, making it the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998, according to Nielsen.
Game 5, in which New York clinched the title, was the most-viewed Finals Game 5 in 26 years. The matchup delivered the highest audience for any NBA telecast since Michael Jordan’s final championship run with the Chicago Bulls in 1998.
Nielsen’s figures combine traditional TV audiences with authenticated streaming on ABC, ESPN + and the ESPN app. Exact digital breakouts were not released, but the totals pushed the series past every Finals held over the last quarter-century.
The 20.6 million average topped the previous post-1998 high set in 2017, when the Golden State Warriors faced the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Knicks-Spurs numbers also marked a significant jump from last season’s Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat, which drew 11.6 million per game.
The series concluded Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks captured their first championship in more than five decades.
Source: ESPN
