NBA Finals Ratings Crash 21% for Game 3, Tied for 12-Year Low

NBA Finals
The Associated Press
Warner Todd Huston

If you thought games one and two of the NBA Finals were bad for TV ratings, Game Three fell even farther, hitting a 12-year low according to the numbers.

Deadline’s Dominic Patten pointed out that the playoffs have realized a ten-year low over all. “After another ratings drop for the @Raptors winning & @StephenCurry30 playoff career-high Game 3, #NBAFinals ratings are averaging an overall 10-year low so far,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Snaring a 10.0/18 in metered market results, Wednesday’s primetime Game 3 crashed 21% from the Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals on June 6 last year,” Patten added at Deadline.

“[W]ith a 10.1/19 average so far in metered market results, the 2019 NBA Finals are the lowest first three games since the 9.7/16 for the L.A. Lakers and Orlando Magic face-off of 2009,” Patten concluded.

Patten was not alone in noting the ratings decline. Sports Business Journal writer Austin Karp also pointed out the dismal numbers in a tweet:

“ABC drew a 10.0 overnight rating for the Raptors’ win in NBA Finals Game 3 last night. Lowest for a Game 3 since Heat-Spurs 2013 (also a 10.0). Another primetime win for ABC (67 straight for NBA Finals). Last year, Warriors-Cavs Game 3 got 12.7”

The ratings crash has only continued this year after Game Two saw a 20 percent fall last weekend. But the tournament started off in the red when Game One measured in at an 18 percent drop over last year’s numbers. Game One’s TV score was also a ten-year low.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.

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