The historic championship of the New York Knicks not only ended a 53-year drought without titles, but also skyrocketed fan interest and recorded the best audience figures for the NBA Finals in almost three decades.
The Knicks’ 94-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the series averaged 24.5 million viewers across ABC and ESPN, making it the most-watched Finals game since 1998.
According to Nielsen data, viewership peaked at 33 million viewers during the final minutes of the game, when Jalen Brunson led New York’s comeback with a memorable 45-point performance.
The most watched Finals of the ABC and ESPN era
The Knicks-Spurs series averaged 20.6 million viewers, the highest number since ABC and ESPN began broadcasting the NBA Finals in 2003.
In addition, it is only the third time since 1999 that a championship series exceeds the barrier of 20 million average viewers.
Until now, the highest records in the modern era corresponded to the 2017 Finals, when the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers with an average of 20.47 million viewers, and those of 2016, which reached 20.2 million during Cleveland’s historic comeback victory over Golden State.
The contrast is notable compared to the 2025 Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers, which averaged just 10.31 million viewers over seven games.
A level not seen since Michael Jordan
To find higher figures you have to go back to the 1998 Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz.
That series, remembered for Michael Jordan’s sixth and last championship with Chicago, registered an average of 29.04 million viewers in six games and continues to be the historical benchmark in terms of television audience.
The combination of a historic franchise like the Knicks, the media impact of New York and Brunson’s spectacular performance helped the NBA experience one of its most followed finals in recent times.
The Knicks’ title was not only etched in the franchise’s sporting history, but also in the league’s viewership records, which celebrated its most-watched final series in almost thirty years.
