The deciding Game 7 in the 2025 National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers netted an average audience of 16.35 million viewers on ABC and ESPN+.
Confirmed:
- Viewership for the series decider peaked at 19.28 million
- Full seven-game series averaged 10.27 million viewers on ABC, down nine per cent on last year’s NBA Finals
- ESPN and ABC averaged 6.12 million viewers for its coverage of the NBA playoffs, up ten per cent on last season
Context:
The decisive Game 7 won by the Thunder on 22nd June was the most watched NBA Finals game since Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, which averaged 18.34 million viewers.
However, the series decider also stands out as the only game to surpass ten million viewers in this year’s NBA Finals. The 2025 edition was the least watched championship series since the Covid-affected 2021 series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, which averaged 9.91 million viewers. The decrease has been attributed to Oklahoma City and Indianapolis being smaller media markets in the US.
Credit: https://www.sportspro.com/news/nba-finals-thunder-pacers-abc-tv-viewership-ratings-june-2025/
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