Warriors’ return to West finals brings huge TV audience to TNT
If it wasn’t clear based on social media chatter, the Warriors’ return to the NBA’s final four is bringing a lot of attention and eyeballs to the league and its broadcast partners.
Turner Sports announced on Thursday that Wednesday’s Game 1 of the Western Conference finals was TNT’s most-watched conference finals game since 2018 — when the Warriors played the Rockets in a seven-game slugfest on TNT.
The Warriors’ 112-87 win over the Mavericks averaged 6.5 million viewers, an increase of 21% over last season’s Eastern Conference finals on TNT and a 38% jump from the 2021 Western Conference finals. The telecast had a peak audience of 7.5 million, between the 9:45-10 p.m. window.
With Stephen Curry leading the way and Klay Thompson returning from injury, Golden State has been drawing massive television audiences all season long — and blowing out their fellow NBA teams by huge margins in ratings.
A mid-season report from SportsBusinessJournal showed the Warriors’ local television ratings on NBC Sports Bay Area through Feb. 16 (7.63) were averaging more than double the next-closest team, the Cavaliers on Bally Sports Ohio (3.74).
The league found a boost in its regular season ratings with its national television partners, too, as viewership increased 19% across ABC, ESPN and TNT compared to the 2020-21 season.
While the Warriors can’t take sole credit for the uptick, this much is clear: when the Warriors are good, the NBA benefits.