NBA, NHL miss opportunity as Sunday night passes without a Final game

Sports fans will have to get their fix without hockey or basketball this Sunday, as some questionable scheduling has left a prime Sunday night window without a Stanley Cup Final or NBA Finals game.

Both the NBA and NHL are in the heart of their season finales, but neither league is taking advantage of Sunday night, historically one of the strongest viewership windows for live sports in the United States. Instead, both the NBA Finals series between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks, and the Stanley Cup Final series between the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes, will take a night off, sacrificing what could have been one of the most-watched games in either series.

Instead, the NBA chose to keep a two-day rest period between games when the series switches cities, and the NHL, which typically schedules the Stanley Cup Final around the NBA Finals, opted to continue its every-other-day cadence through the first three games of its series. The decision is perhaps most perplexing on the NHL’s part, as it could’ve banked an extra rest day as the series switched cities after Thursday’s Game 2, but decided nonetheless to play Game 3 on Saturday. Adding to the curiosity, the NHL could’ve scheduled Game 3 for Sunday without altering any of its other scheduled games, with Game 4 already being slated for Tuesday.

In recent years, leagues and networks have viewed Saturdays more favorably when scheduling marquee events, which could’ve played into the NHL’s decision. Traditionally, Saturday has been among the worst viewership days for live sports, but since the addition and expansion of Nielsen’s out-of-home viewing measurements, Saturday has become a day that can deliver large audiences. Even still, when given the choice, leagues and networks would likely tend to choose a Sunday night over a Saturday night for an event as big as the Stanley Cup Final.

As for the NBA, the league began scheduling a two-day gap between site changes in the Finals starting in 2016. In a typical year, when the Finals begin on a Thursday, that would allow for two Sunday games (Game 2 and a potential Game 7). This year, however, the NBA moved the beginning of the Finals to a Wednesday to avoid going head-to-head with the U.S. Men’s National Team’s opening World Cup game this upcoming Friday. The league decided to maintain the same cadence of a two-day gap between sites even with the early start, resulting in the first NBA Finals without a Sunday game since 1970.

Still, the NBA could’ve decided to keep just a one-day gap between Game 2 and Game 3 had it valued the Sunday night window. But the league decided Monday night was suitable enough for Game 3.

ABC, the network broadcasting both the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final, likely wouldn’t have minded a Sunday night window for either series. Tonight, ABC will be airing America’s Funniest Home Videos followed by Toy Story 4 in primetime.

For sports fans, the decisions mean turning to alternatives on Sunday night. Fox will air an IndyCar race from Illinois, NBC will air Sunday Night Baseball, and ESPN will air Super Regional action in the College World Series; not exactly a murderer’s row of sporting events. Hopefully, most fans got their fill earlier in the day, with the French Open men’s final going five sets, the U.S. Women’s Open and Riviera drawing to a close, and the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament finishing in the evening.