While certain sports pundits may not enjoy the NBA In-Season Tournament, the numbers don’t lie — and ratings on ESPN are up.
The NBA recently reported that ESPN’s viewership for group play of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament was up 20 percent compared to last year’s Friday night games in November, according to Nielsen.
In 2023, ESPN’s eight-game November slate averaged 1,522,000 viewers, which is up from 1,269,000 viewers last season.
Notably, the Nov. 10 game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns averaged 1,929,000 viewers on ESPN and is the most-watched NBA In-Season Tournament game across all networks to date.
ESPN will exclusively televise one of the NBA In-Season Tournament semifinal games on Thursday, Dec. 7, at 5 PM ET and ABC will exclusively broadcast the Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 8:30 PM.
