The first 2024-25 NBA Playoff ratings have come out, and Commissioner Adam Silver said they were fantastic. The NBA Playoff rankings were the best the league has seen in about a quarter century, according to a press release sent by the league to the Associated Press. Silver was speaking at the CAA World Congress of Sports and was ecstatic to talk about the playoff rankings for the first four games on Saturday and the four games on Sunday. Last weekend proved to be a huge one for the league, which has been maligned as of late because of ratings.
The Numbers Of the NBA Playoff Rankings
The league said the eight games over the weekend averaged 4.4 million viewers, which is the highest in 25 years and was an improvement by a 17% margin from the opening weekend of last season’s NBA Playoffs. These improvements for the league are outstanding, especially when you dive into some of the actual game ratings themselves. For example, the Orlando-Boston game on Sunday.
ESPN was able to provide the numbers for that game on ABC on Sunday, and they were pleased with those numbers from the looks of things. Nearly 6.7 million people watched the defending champs grab the Game 1 win, with the peak being just over 8 million for that game.
Adam Silver On Moving to the Digital World and Acknowledging Slow Ratings Start
With these NBA Playoff ratings off to a great start, Silver is excited to have an opportunity to move the digital world to reach more fans in a variety of different ways, as he said to the Associated Press for this ESPN article:
“I say think of the ManningCast but on steroids,” Silver said. “Essentially unlimited number of alternative channels.” His comparing his vision to the ManningCast is a strong statement as the ManningCasts have been great for the NFL and their ratings.
Also, Silver trying to get into the digital world more is an action based on the slow start the rating had due to the big market World Series we had between the New York Yankees and the LA Dodgers, and the presidential election. As the ratings did have that slow start, the league was only down 2% year over year according to Silver.
Final Thoughts
Let’s see if these ratings grow throughout the rest of the Playoffs like they did this first weekend. Especially if we get some of the potential series that the bracket could present for these playoffs. I think the NBA Playoffs will be exciting, as they mostly are. I think there could be some serious parity, especially in the West this year. Hopefully, the ratings reflect how the games are being played. Total Apex Sports is the place to be for more NBA stories and recaps throughout the rest of the season.
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