NBA's Christmas Day Games Draw Largest Viewership in 5 Years

The Los Angeles Lakers' nail-biting 115-113 win over the Golden State Warriors showcased an electrifying showdown between basketball superstars LeBron James and Stephen Curry. The game drew an impressive average of 7.76 million viewers, reaching a peak of 8.32 million viewers at 10:30 p.m. ET. This marked the highest viewership for an NBA regular season and Christmas Day game in five years, with a remarkable 499% increase compared to last year's equivalent time slot.

A Christmas Day Full Of Fantastic Finishes

To begin the day, the New York Knicks’ 117-114 win over the San Antonio Spurs averaged 4.91 million viewers, making it the most-watched Christmas Day opener in 13 years and up 98% vs. the comparable window last year.  All five Christmas Day games saw year-over-year viewership increases, including Philadelphia 76ers/Boston Celtics (5.16 million viewers, up 3%), Minnesota Timberwolves/Dallas Mavericks (4.38 million viewers, up 6%) and Denver Nuggets/Phoenix Suns (3.84 million viewers, up 161%).  Nuggets/Suns was the most-watched late window ever on Christmas Day.

The NBA generated more than 500 million video views across its social media platforms on Christmas Day – an all-time record.  The five-game slate also generated the most-viewed Christmas Day ever on NBA League Pass.  NBA Christmas Day games were distributed in 214 countries and territories in 60 languages.

NBA viewership across ESPN platforms this season is up 4% vs. last year.  NBA games this season have driven ESPN and TNT to be the most-viewed cable networks among people under 50 on 21 of 24 nights.  Leading into Christmas Day, NBA viewership across ABC, ESPN and TNT increased every week of December, with an average week-over-week increase of 7%.  Viewership for Emirates NBA Cup games on ESPN and TNT were up 6% vs. non-NBA Cup games during the same timeframe.

Season to date, the NBA has generated a record 11 billion views across its social and digital channels.  The NBA has the largest social media following among all professional sports leagues and has one of the largest social media communities of any brand.