On Sunday evening, Game 2 of the 2025 NBA Finals was in Oklahoma City. The Thunder lost Game 1, 111-110, and bounced back in Game 2. OKC won 123-107 to tie the series 1-1.
Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals saw an average of 8.9 million viewers and peaked at 11.1 million. In Game 2, average viewership dropped to 8.76 million, and the peak was 9.9 million. The 8.76 million average viewers of Game 2 were the lowest since 2007. That was Spurs vs. Cavaliers.
Why did ratings drop in Game 2 of the 2025 NBA Finals?
Sunday’s Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals Game 2 averaged 8.76 million viewers on ABC, down 29% from Mavericks-Celtics (12.31M) and the least-watched Game 2 of the Finals since the Heat-Lakers in the fall 2020 “bubble” on the night the president was hospitalized due to COVID (6.78M). pic.twitter.com/sXyIRGd32O
— Proud Gerbil Lover (@metalhead684) June 10, 2025
After the Pacers’ thrilling comeback in Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals, one would assume the ratings would have increased in Game 2. However, the league saw the exact opposite happen. Viewership in Game 2 decreased from an 8.9 million average to 8.76 million. In Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals between Dallas and Boston, there were 12.3 million average viewers. Since 2007, the ratings from Game 1 to Game 2 have only dropped three times. The 2025 Finals are one of the three.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver does not understand the obsession with the ratings. He noted that focusing on the ratings overshadows the basketball product on the court. Silver said he finds it “a little unusual.” While traditional Nielsen ratings may be decreasing, overall NBA consumption online is strong.
Content from the 2025 NBA Finals has generated 32 billion views across all digital platforms. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton account for 1.5 billion views. Additionally, Commissioner Silver noted that a new $76 billion TV deal with help shield the drop in ratings. Disney, NBC, and Amazon are part of the new NBA regular season TV deal starting in 2025-26. Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals is Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. EST in Indiana.
