Why the NBA Is Setting Ratings Records at the Perfect Time

They are being courted by quite a few suitors.

The first two weeks of the NBA Playoffs have produced several close games and huge upsets on the court, and the excitement has shown itself in the ratings.

Game 4 of the Golden State Warriors vs Sacramento Kings aired on ABC on Sunday and attracted the league’s largest first-round audience in 21 years, according to Nielsen.

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The telecast averaged 7.5 million viewers and peaked at 10.4 million, the most for a first-round match since the Los Angeles Lakers faced the Portland Trail Blazers in 2002 in a game that averaged 8.5 million viewers.

Nielsen also revealed that the 2023 NBA Playoffs’ opening weekend was the highest for the league in 12 years, averaging 4.15 million viewers on Disney -  (DIS) - Get Free Report and Warner Bros. -  (WBD) - Get Free Report channels.

The timing couldn’t be any better for the NBA, whose media rights deal needs to be renewed starting the 2025-26 season. Their current deal with ESPN/ABC and TNT is worth $24 billion, or $2.6 billion annually, but according to CNBC, the league is hoping to get a $75 billion deal this time around worth about $8 billion annually.

In comparison, the NFL’s rights deal, which they signed in 2021 and runs until the 2033 season, costs around $10 billion a year between CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, and Amazon.

The NBA is expected to reel in several suitors as well, with ESPN and TNT looking to retain their rights, but players like NBC, Amazon, and Apple have also reportedly been interested.