There is no longer any room for doubt: this mid-season tournament was a media success. According to SportsmediawatchSaturday's final between the Lakers and the Pacers recorded the best audience in the league, outside of Christmas matches and the playoffs, for six years.
On average, 4.6 million viewers on ABC (4.14 million) and ESPN2 (439,000) followed the exploits of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, against Tyrese Haliburton, to sign the biggest TV audience since February 2018 and a meeting between Cavaliers and Celtics (audience of 4.64 million).
Twice as many viewers as for the 2022 Finals remake
The number of viewers jumped 46% compared to the match between Celtics and Warriors, in a “remake” of the last NBA finals, at the same time of year last season (3.14 million).
Remember that the semi-final between the Lakers and the Pelicans attracted an average of 2.2 million Americans in front of the small screen. It was already the most watched match of the season, excluding the matches in the first week of the regular season.
“ There is no lap of honor yet. Let's wait until we have spent the day on Saturday », Cautiously declared Adam Silver who, with audience figures to back it up, is now certain that the public followed the first edition of his tournament.
