The return of the New York Knicks to the NBA Finals after nearly 30 years in the wilderness coincided with the league’s most-watched game since before the COVID-19 pandemic. ABC’s coverage of Wednesday night’s Game 1 averaged 16.93 million viewers, setting the tone for the series.
The Knicks’ 105-95 victory over the San Antonio Spurs nearly doubled last year’s analogous Pacers-Thunder broadcast (8.91 million viewers), bettering that delivery by 90%. Per Nielsen, New York’s win peaked at 19.63 million viewers in the 11 p.m.-11:15 p.m. ET quarter-hour.
To further place the Game 1 deliveries in context, ABC’s TV turnout beat Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals by some 580,000 viewers.
All told, Wednesday’s broadcast drew the NBA’s largest audience since Game 6 of the 2019 Raptors-Warriors series averaged 18.59 million viewers.
Media buyers this week said that the average unit cost for an in-game commercial in Friday night’s game landed at some $800,000 per 30-second spot, and while scatter rates are significantly higher, much of the inventory was sold well before the playoffs got underway. That said, Disney’s ad sales team is looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of a $60 million night when Game 2 tips off.
