While the unexpected Game 7 of the NBA Finals turned from hype to misfortune early in the first quarter when Tyrese Haliburton went down with an injury, the clash between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder delivered for ESPN and ABC.
Peaking with more nearly 19.3 million viewers and averaging nearly 16.4 million on Sunday night, the game is officially the most-watched NBA game in six years. It was the first Game 7 with the NBA championship on the line since 2016. And despite a double-digit Thunder win, it saw the most viewers for an NBA game since Game 6 of the 2019 Finals.
However, due to lagging ratings early in the small-market duel, these Finals were down 9 percent compared with last year’s Boston-Dallas series. Excluding the COVID-impacted season, the 2025 Finals were the least-watched since a similarly small-market series between the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007.
This series saw two NBA franchises outside the top 25 in Designated Market Area. The two young teams, neither of which featured an established veteran superstar player, played great games but failed to draw the attention of the average fan until later in the Finals.
Promisingly, the game maintained a relatively strong audience despite Haliburton rupturing his Achilles’ tendon in the first quarter.
The NBA may have preferred a stronger series, but the low viewership numbers primarily impact ESPN and ABC. The league signed a massive 11-year, nearly $8 billion broadcast rights deal last year that starts later this fall.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.