NBA Christmas Ratings: The Reports of Basketball’s Demise Were Greatly Exaggerated
Let’s be honest for a second. Leading up to the holidays, the narrative was practically etched in stone. The NFL was coming for Christmas Day, the schedule was set, and the NBA was supposedly going to get crushed under the weight of the gridiron juggernaut. We heard the whispers and the loud proclamations that pro football was undeniably king and that basketball needed to find a new day to celebrate.
Well, if you were one of the people writing the obituary for the NBA on December 25, you might want to check the receipt. The numbers are officially in, and they tell a completely different story than the doom-and-gloom projections we were fed all month.
NBA Viewership Surges When It Matters Most
Here is the cold, hard data for you. The league just posted its best Christmas Day viewership numbers in 15 years. You read that correctly. We aren’t talking about a marginal tick upward or a “spin zone” victory where we cherry-pick one specific demographic. We are talking about a massive 45 percent jump in unique viewership compared to last year.
According to the official release, over 47 million people in the United States tuned in to watch at least part of the five-game slate on ABC and ESPN. The average viewership settled at 5.5 million per game, which is up 4 percent from the previous year. For a league that supposedly has a “regular season problem,” getting nearly 50 million sets of eyes on the product during a day usually reserved for opening presents and arguing with relatives is a massive win. It is the most-watched Christmas since 2010, excluding the lockout-shortened 2011 season opener, which was a complete anomaly.
The Young Stars Are Carrying the Torch
What is perhaps most interesting about these numbers is who people were watching. For the longest time, the league relied heavily on the same three or four faces to drive ratings. If LeBron or Steph weren’t on the screen, the casual fan would change the channel. But this year felt different. It felt like a legitimate changing of the guard.
The NBA saw massive success in the early windows, which are notoriously difficult slots. The Knicks vs. Cavaliers matchup at noon Eastern wasn’t just background noise; it averaged 6.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched noon Christmas game in history. And let’s be real, the drama helped. New York rallying back from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to stunningly beat Cleveland 126-124 is the kind of unscripted drama that the NFL simply could not match this year.
Then you have the 2:30 p.m. slot featuring the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs. This game averaged 6.71 million viewers. Why does that matter? Because it was the most-viewed game in that time slot since 2017. Fans weren’t tuning in for the “old guard.” They were tuning in for the Chet vs. Wemby narrative and the blossoming rivalry between Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The league has been desperate for the next generation to step up and carry the marketing load, and judging by these ratings, the fans are ready for it.
Social Media Dominance and The Football Factor
While the NBA was busy racking up wins on the television screen, they were absolutely obliterating the competition online. The league generated more than 1.6 billion views across social platforms on Christmas Day. That is up 23 percent from 2024. In the battle for the attention span of the scrolling generation, basketball remains undefeated.
It is also worth noting that the NFL‘s attempt to hijack the holiday didn’t go quite as planned. While football is always going to draw a crowd, their slate of games was, to put it politely, inconsequential. With injuries marring the lineups and playoff implications slim to none for the teams involved, the football product felt like a stocking stuffer you forgot to return. Meanwhile, the NBA delivered high-stakes, star-studded drama that kept people glued to their screens.
So, go ahead and keep saying the regular season doesn’t matter. The 47 million people who spent their holiday watching dunks and buzzer-beaters would beg to differ.
