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Morning Edition

April 16, 2025

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The NBA’s viewership was in a bad place early this season, but a surge since Christmas has brought ratings nearly even with last year—and potentially ready to climb next season. We explain why.

— Colin Salao [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], and Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]

NBA Regular-Season Ratings Dip 2%, In Line With the NFL [[link removed]]

Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

The NBA drew a ton of criticism after double-digit viewership declines through the first two months of the season, but with the campaign wrapped up, the league still finished close to equal with last year.

The 2024–2025 NBA regular season averaged 1.53 million viewers on ABC, ESPN, and TNT, a 2% decline from last year’s 1.56 million average, a source told Front Office Sports.

While the NBA’s regular-season viewership numbers have hovered around the 1.5 million to 1.6 million mark for the last four years, these numbers are still down from the end of the last decade, anchored by the rivalry of the Steph Curry–led Warriors and LeBron James–led Cavaliers.

The NBA’s viewership decline this year, however, is similar to the trend seen across many major sports leagues. The NFL saw a similar 2% decline for its 2024 season [[link removed]], while the NHL is down about 13% this year despite a successful 4 Nations Face-Off [[link removed]] and Alexander Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record.

FOS graphic

The NBA’s slight viewership dip can be tied to cord-cutting and declining cable audiences. ESPN networks were flat vs. last year, but ESPN-exclusive games saw a 7% decline. TNT games dropped by 8%. ABC pulled up the viewership numbers by averaging 2.68 million viewers across 24 games, a 10% increase compared to last year.

Christmas Day was a turning point in the NBA’s season despite competition from the NFL [[link removed]]. The NBA’s five-game slate averaged 5.32 million viewers, an 87% increase from last year. It helped that all five games were on ABC compared to two the prior year, though it still outpaced the 2023 Christmas games that were also all aired on ABC.

NBA viewership numbers may drastically change next year as the league’s new 11-year, $77 billion media-rights deal [[link removed]] with ESPN, NBCUniversal, and Amazon Prime kicks in. NBC provides a second free-to-air channel for the NBA to broadcast its games, but many more games will fall behind a streaming paywall [[link removed]] with Prime Video and Peacock.

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Bueckers Boost: Star’s Arrival Will Be Boon to Dallas Media [[link removed]]

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The latest WNBA rookie phenom is also now a centerpiece of a sports media overhaul underway in Dallas.

As the Dallas Wings selected UConn star Paige Bueckers with the first pick [[link removed]] of Monday’s WNBA draft, the choice also confirmed a viewership influx likely coming to KFAA-TV, a Tegna-owned television station in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The Wings and KFAA agreed to a rights deal in February [[link removed]], providing the over-the-air station with all of the team’s games not designated for national broadcast.

The agreement represented the latest in a wave of deals for every major pro team in the Dallas area, the No. 4 U.S. media market, with the exception of the NFL’s Cowboys, that turned away from traditional, cable-based local media models in favor of broadcast, streaming, and hybrid approaches.

Bueckers may not have quite the massive mainstream popularity of Caitlin Clark, but she is a highly accomplished star [[link removed]], including leading the Huskies last week to an NCAA title, and she marks the latest wave of top-tier talent reaching the WNBA.

KFAA is poised to see a sizable bump in viewers as the Wings are currently slated to have 28 of their 44 games in 2025 on the local station. That presence is being supplemented by additional local-market agreements elsewhere in Texas, including in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.

“We’re just really excited for the game, the eyes on women’s basketball,” said Wings GM Curt Miller after making the Bueckers pick. “As someone that’s been in the game 35 years, I’ve always been very bullish that our product is outstanding, but now, we have more fandom. We have more eyes on our game than ever. Our product’s always been tremendous. We just needed a spark to get more eyes on our game, and we have it now.”

The arrival of Bueckers in Dallas also generated welcome messages from the other pro teams in the area, including MLB’s Rangers [[link removed]], the NHL’s Stars [[link removed]], the NBA’s Mavericks [[link removed]], and the Cowboys [[link removed]].

WNBA Draft Draws 1.25M Viewers, Second-Best Behind 2.45M Last Year [[link removed]]

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The first televised WNBA event of the 2025 season showed the league’s staying power following a historic year. However, as expected, it couldn’t reach the numbers from last year’s draft that featured Caitlin Clark.

The 2025 WNBA draft, which saw Paige Bueckers selected No. 1 by the Dallas Wings, averaged 1.25M viewers on ESPN on Monday, the second-most-watched draft in league history [[link removed]], ESPN announced Tuesday. This year’s number, however, is down 49% compared to last year’s record 2.45 million viewers. The 2025 draft did draw 119% more viewers than the 2023 WNBA draft.

The data follows the same trend as the 2024 WNBA season and the recent NCAA season. Last year’s WNBA season, which saw viewership and attendance records [[link removed]], dipped when Clark was eliminated from the playoffs [[link removed].]. This year’s NCAA season also saw steep viewership drops compared to last year [[link removed].], Clark’s senior season. However, both still showed significant increases in ratings when compared to seasons before Clark’s mainstream emergence

Is It Sustainable?

It’s becoming clear that Clark is a ratings anomaly, and her stardom has left a lasting effect on women’s basketball. But with the WNBA season starting in a month—and considering Clark has not played an official game since Sept. 26—the question may now be whether the viewership will continue to increase in her sophomore season.

It may help that the Fever are expected to be more competitive and could be dark-horse contenders a year after finishing with the No. 6 seed and a .500 record last year. Indiana made a coaching change by bringing in former Coach of the Year Stephanie White [[link removed]] and acquiring multiple-time All-Stars [[link removed]] DeWanna Bonner and Natasha Howard in the offseason.

The Fever will have 41 of their 44 games on national television or streaming [[link removed]] this year, the most of any team. They open their season on May 17 against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky, a game that will air on ABC.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS NETWORK

The Power of Women Leading Women’s Sports

Athletes Unlimited chief growth officer Allie Kleva joins Leslie Osborne and Arielle Houlihan to discuss how she has built her career, started her family, and is helping grow women’s professional sports with Athletes Unlimited.

Redefined is a Front Office Sports Network show that celebrates the stories, experiences, and realities of multidimensional women in sports who are redefining success. New episodes release every Wednesday and can be found on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, and the FOS website.

Watch the full Redefined episode here [[link removed]].

Conversation Starters Colorado will retire the jerseys [[link removed]] of Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter during their Spring Game on April 19. Paige Bueckers arrived at the WNBA draft and told FOS that she was wearing “all Coach.” Take a look [[link removed]]. Austin made history as the first-ever League One Volleyball champions, winning three straight playoff upsets to claim the title. Check it out [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Steve Ballmer Begs Trump Administration To Reverse Cuts to Education Research [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The Clippers owner addressed a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon. Super Bowl Champ Logan Ryan Almost Bought Into a French Soccer Team [[link removed]]by Ben Horney [[link removed]]Ryan’s story is perfectly representative of the trend in athlete ownership stakes. Augusta Phone Ban Creates Masters Atmosphere Other Majors Should Copy [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]The policy leads to much higher fan engagement—and translates on TV, too. Question of the Day

How much of this year’s NBA postseason do you think you’ll watch?

More than last season [[link removed]] Less than last season [[link removed]] About the same as last season [[link removed]]

Tuesday’s result: 52% of respondents said the addition of Paige Bueckers makes the Dallas Wings a playoff-caliber team, while 48% said it does not.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Colin Salao [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Margaret Fleming [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]]

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