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NBA says viewership of regular-season games was up 86% over last season
TL;DR
The NBA reported an 86% increase in regular-season game viewership this year, with 170 million viewers across major platforms, marking the highest numbers in 24 years. This surge follows the league's new television deals, including Amazon Prime Video and NBC/Peacock.
NEW YORK (AP) — The numbers are in, and the NBA says Year 1 of its new television deals were a hit.
The league released numbers for the regular season on Wednesday, showing that 170 million people in the U.S. watched NBA games across the league's four primary broadcast platforms this year — those being ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, NBC/Peacock, and NBA TV.
Those numbers are the league's best in 24 years, the NBA said, plus represented an 86% rise over last season.
Prime Video was part of the league's television rights package for the first time this season and NBC/Peacock returned for the first time in a generation. The league signed a new 11-year, $76 billion-plus media rights deal in 2024 to show games on those two platforms along with ABC/ESPN and NBA TV.
Those deals kicked in at the start of this season.
Other highlights of the viewership numbers:
— NBA games across ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, NBC/Peacock and NBA TV had the the highest average viewership in 13 years, up 35% over last season.
— A total of 57 telecasts this season reached an average of 2 million viewers, the most since the 2011-12 season.
— People watched NBA games for more than 920 million hours, up 25% over last season and the most since 2011-12.
— The NBA's social media channels generated a record 228 billion views this season, according to Videocites. That's up 13% over last season.
— Attendance over the past three seasons in NBA arenas is higher than any three-season span in league history.
— Viewership for NBA Cup group play games was up 90% from last season.
— The audience for the All-Star Game on NBC, averaging 8.8 million viewers, was the largest for the league's midseason showcase event since 2011.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Q&A
How many people watched NBA games this season?
170 million people in the U.S. watched NBA games this season.
What caused the 86% increase in NBA viewership?
The increase in viewership is attributed to new television deals, including partnerships with Amazon Prime Video and NBC/Peacock.
When did the new NBA media rights deals start?
The new media rights deals began at the start of this season.
