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he LA Lakers game one victory over the Miami Heat saw drops of 45% in viewership and 48% in ratings compared to game one of last year’s NBA finals.
These figures made it the least-watched game of the NBA finals series since at least 1998, however game one of the NBA finals was competing with the Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs.
ABC’s game one broadcast was still the most-watched show that evening, while it also drew the best non-National Football League (NFL) viewership on TV since the Oscars in February, according to Sports Media Watch.
As leagues across the US continue to attempt to complete their truncated seasons, the revised schedule has meant more games from different sports overlapping, causing a dip in ratings compared to last year.
According to Sports Media Watch, the viewership for the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Stanley Cup Final was down 61 per cent, while the audience for horse racing’s Kentucky Derby fell 43 per cent, and motorsport’s Indianapolis 500 suffered a 32 per cent drop.
The NBA is already expected to lose millions in revenue due to the pandemic, but drops close to 50% were not expected.
There have been many speculations as to why the NBA’s ratings are struggling, which could point into the direction of President of America Donald Trump who has been critical of the NBA’s players electing to protest for the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement.
