“The Recovery” block by Giannis Antetokounmpo is what many fans are taking away from Game 4 of the 2021 NBA Finals. Yet, the 109-103 Bucks victory marked a different milestone for the league office.
According to Sports Media Watch, Wednesday night’s clash in Milwaukee was the first NBA game to cross the ten million viewer threshold since 2019.
Game 4 averaged 10.25 million viewers on ABC, eclipsing Game 2’s 9.38 million last Thursday as the league’s most-watched game in two years.
The nip-tuck battle had everything an NBA fan could ask for: Giannis blocks, Khris Middleton daggers, and Chris Paul turnovers. It was an encapsulating contest, and that rang true in the numbers.
The night peaked right in the middle of crunch time, with 12.56 million people tuning in between 11:15 and 11:30 p.m. ET. Overall, the game delivered the fifth-largest sports audience (excluding football) since the industry shuttered its doors due to the pandemic last year.
Wednesday’s game slots in behind Game 6 of last year’s World Series (12.70 million viewers), this year’s Kentucky Derby (14.37 million viewers), Gonzaga-UCLA in the Final Four (14.94 million viewers), and Baylor-Gonzaga in the National Championship (16.92 million viewers).
This year’s NBA Finals are slowly making up the gap between 2021 and 2019, but they are still a far cry from historical ratings. Game 4 viewership went up by 35% from last year’s event but is still down 20% from 2019. Sports Media Watch noted that Game 4 is the shortest gap of the series. Game 1 declined 36% from 2019, and Games 2 and 3 by 32%.
Overall, The NBA Finals are up 35% from last season. Yet, through four games it still doesn’t compare across history. The 9.31 million average viewers only rank ahead of 2007’s matchup between the Spurs and Cavaliers. That series ended in a sweep; while averaging 9.29 million viewers.