NBA playoffs ratings are not actually the highest in 33 years, as reported
The NBA is touting the first round of the playoffs as the most-viewed since 1993. The league says the round is averaging 3.84 million viewers through 27 telecasts, up 7% from last year.
NBA supporters are celebrating and asking OutKick for comment. History suggests Bill Simmons may soon mention me on his podcast while praising the league’s latest viewership averages.
That said, we caution those getting too excited on the message boards. While the numbers the NBA is promoting are technically accurate, they are also misleading.
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For one, the year-over-year comparisons are invalid. The distribution has changed. This year, games air on ABC, NBC, ESPN and Prime Video. Previously, they aired on TNT, ESPN and ABC. The difference between games on a cable channel like TNT and those on a broadcast network like NBC is significant.
Regional sports networks also no longer carry first-round matchups under the new rights agreements. In past years, fans in major markets like New York and Los Angeles could watch local Knicks and Lakers broadcasts. That option is gone. Viewers now have to watch the national telecast, greatly inflating national estimates.
Another factor is the measurement system itself.
The 2026 postseason is the first to be fully measured under Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel metric, introduced last September. Early readings suggest the new methodology has increased live sports viewership by about 8%.
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Some estimates say the methodology change has increased NBA playoff averages even higher, closer to 13%.
Taken together, it is entirely possible that fewer Americans are watching the playoffs this season than last. The claim that this is the most-viewed first round in 33 years is completely false.
Still, the majority of sports outlets have simply parroted the NBA's press release without the added context. It's unclear if these outlets are unaware of the deception or are simply afraid to upset the league.
There is a reason the NBA won't credential the author of this article, but approves random fanboy bloggers to cover games.
Now, to be fair, the NBA isn’t alone in how it presents ratings. As OutKick reported, the Super Bowl’s decline was steeper than the 2% figure the NFL cited after adjusting for the new Nielsen metric. NHL playoff gains have also been smaller than the league suggests.
However, no league tries harder to spin its popularity than the NBA. And no league has more defenders of its declines than the NBA, with commentators like Simmons and Ryen Russillo as dedicated to the cause as the league's own in-house communication division.
No one said the NBA is "dying." But the league is less popular now than at any other point in the past 25 years. And the latest spin job about the first round ratings doesn't change that.