NBA sees 84% jump in Christmas ratings, best numbers in 5 years despite NFL competition

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The NBA got the Christmas gift it was hoping for on Wednesday.

In a Boxing Day announcement, the league said it posted its most-watched Christmas day slate in five years with an average of 5.25 million viewers across its five games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+. That reportedly adds up to a viewership increase of 84% against last year’s Christmas.

The biggest game of the day was predictably the one between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, or LeBron James and Stephen Curry. That game saw an average 7.76 million viewers with a peak of 8.32 million, the most-watched game in that same five-year span and a 499% increase from last year’s window (which was between the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat.

The game was a fun one, with the Lakers blowing a double-digit lead in the final minutes, capped off by game-tying Curry 3-pointer with eight seconds left, then winning on an Austin Reaves layup.

The NBA will gladly take all of those numbers, considering it is currently fighting to defend at least part of its hold on Christmas from the most powerful league in the world.

How did the NBA do against the NFL on Christmas?

The NFL has been attempting to replicate its success with Thanksgiving for a few years now by instituting a slate of games on Christmas, no matter what inconvenient day of the week the holiday falls upon.

This year, that day was Wednesday, requiring the league to have four of its teams play on Saturday the previous week to give them at least four day’s rest. It still added up to three games in 11 days and some players weren’t happy, though they and the fans at least got a Beyoncé concert out of it.

This year was also unusual because it was the first time the NFL handed the slate off to Netflix, having already found success (or at least money) by giving “Thursday Night Football” to a streamer at Amazon.

The NBA one again saw big ratings in a game between LeBron James and Stephen Curry. (Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images)

The NFL has so far reported success with its 2024 Christmas viewership, though in Netflix’s usual way without the hard numbers you see with Nielsen ratings. Instead of a…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-sees-84-jump-in-christmas-ratings-best-numbers-in-5-years-despite-nfl-competition-223250104.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-12-26 22:32:00

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