Tuesday Teasings commented last week on the historically low TV ratings for Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now, the series is going at least six games with the Thunder taking a 3-2 lead after last night’s Game 5 win at home. So what has happened with the TV ratings since Game 1 for the No. 25 (Indianapolis) and No. 47 (OKC) markets? Well … the news is not good.

Overall, through Game 4, the ratings have stayed very low, which is to be expected for these markets and teams lacking major-star or international appeal. Game 2 was the lowest-rated Game 2 ever, except for Covid year when the Finals were contested in the fall season up against MLB, NFL, and college football games. Just 8.76M viewers watched the game, which was lower than the Game 1 numbers (8.91M). Ouch.

Game 3 saw a little uptick, to 9.19M viewers, although it still ranked as the second-worst Game 3 ever (again, excepting the 2020 Finals). Only Game 3 in 2021 was worse, when Milwaukee beat Phoenix after falling behind 0-2 in the Finals. We suspect those TV numbers were low because the casual viewers assumed the Suns would beat the Bucks again, etc. Obviously, the build up to each games matters in data.

As for Game 4, the 9.4M viewers who tuned in was once again an all-time low for a Game 4, not including the Covid season. Clearly, viewers just aren’t interested in these two teams, and their respective markets are not big enough to bring in a big TV crowd, either. We don’t have the Game 5 information yet, but right now, the 4.65 market-share average per game would be the worst ever (outside the 2020 Finals, etc.). That hurts.

The NBA relies heavily on its national TV contract for revenue: we explored this awhile ago. And these Finals are bringing in less viewers than ever, basically. Without Boston or New York showing up as predicted, the numbers are embarrassing. We don’t expect this series to go seven games, and six games give the league enough revenue, perhaps, to call it a wash, but keep in mind, the NBA’s TV numbers aren’t good.

Including the Covid year, five of the last six seasons have produced the worst NBA Finals ratings ever. The one except was 2022, with the Golden State Warriors playing the Celtics, and even that only managed to finish with the eighth-worst ratings ever. Are people losing interest in professional basketball? What does that say for the WNBA, which is dependent on NBA financial support to stay afloat? Interesting times ahead.