There have been good years and bad years for the NBA recently.
While the level of athleticism within the league has never been better, the number of people watching the NBA has fluctuated wildly from year to year.
With so many things to watch on TV, sometimes the NBA suffers.
NBA delivers most-viewed regular season since 2018-19, up 19% vs. last season. pic.twitter.com/Y1dgNOjmFN
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 12, 2022
That’s not the case this year.
The NBA received its most viewers since the 2018-19 season.
Viewership was up 19% from last season, which is a huge bump up and great news for the league.
On average, games across ABC, ESPN, and TNT averaged 1.6 million viewers.
Meanwhile, social media platforms generated 13 billion video views, which is a 7% increase from last year.
Finally, the number of global subscribers rose 30% from the 2020-21 season.
It looks like people are loving the NBA again.
A Wide Reach
One of the particular stats that is very interesting is the one related to global viewers.
A 30% jump in global subscribers is huge for the league – but it shouldn’t be a big surprise.
Now more than ever before, some of the best players in the league are from other countries.
In fact, the top three candidates for this season’s MVP (Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo) are international stars.
And there are plenty of other big names within the association who come from overseas.
This makes the NBA more inclusive and more welcoming for international viewers.
The league is also benefitting from so many great storylines emerging.
The resurgence of the Chicago Bulls, the unparalleled power of the Phoenix Suns, the collapse of the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers – all of these make for must-see TV.
It’s rare that so much has been happening all at once within the NBA.
All of this is drawing people in.
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