NBA’s viewership skyrockets on Christmas Day courtesy of LeBron James and Steph Curry
LeBron James and Warriors star man Steph Curry made sure that the NBA record its highest viewership on Christmas Day.
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LeBron James and Stephen Curry
The NBA’s Christmas battle between the Los Angeles Lakers star man LeBron James and Golden State Warriors star man Stephen Curry was thrilling and highly-rated. With an 84% increase in viewing over the previous year, the league reported that the game was the most viewed NBA Regular Season and Christmas Day match in five years.
James and Curry squared off in a close game that ended with a 115-113 Los Angeles Lakers victory. According to the NBA, the Lakers-Warriors matchup drew an average of 7.76 million viewers in the United States across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Disney+, and ESPN+. This is an increase of nearly 500% from the 2023 Christmas games.
With an average viewership of 4.91 million, the Christmas Day opener, which saw the New York Knicks defeat the San Antonio Spurs 117-114. It was the most-watched game of its kind in 13 years, an increase of 98% from the previous year. All five of Christmas Day games saw improvements in viewership of the prior year.
REPORT: The NBA had its most-watched Christmas Day in five years. Viewership was up 84% compared to last year, per @NBAPR.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) December 26, 2024
🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/2L9Zdbhsda
In addition, on Christmas Day, 5.25 million views were on average for the following games: Denver Nuggets vs. Phoenix Suns (3.84 million viewers, up 161%), Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Dallas Mavericks (4.38 million viewers, up 6%), and Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics (5.16 million viewers, up 3%).
With the NBA facing constant criticism over their decline in viewership, they surely delivered on Christmas day, thanks to Steph Curry and LeBron James. It remains to be seen if the rest of the regular season can achieve a similar result.
LeBron James made a bold admission regarding ‘Christmas Day’
Much of the conversation surrounding the game has focused on the number of three-pointers and the ratings during an exciting NBA season full of amazing storylines. However, the main topic here was about the ‘Christmas Day’ viewership. While the NFL and NBA battle it out regarding viewership, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James made a bold statement regarding the festive day.
LeBron James told the media, “I love the NFL, I love the NFL, But Christmas is our day.” This was James’ way of notifying people that Christmas Day belongs to the NBA rather than the NFL. However, they could not win the viewership battle against the NFL.
The great stars of the game lived up to the hype in five exciting games that were decided by a total of 25 points on Christmas Day. In the San Antonio Spurs’ defeat vs the New York Knicks, Victor Wembanyama began the day with 42 points, 18 rebounds, and four blocks.
In his side’s defeat, Kyrie Irving scored 39 points. Tyrese Maxey led the Philadelphia 76ers past the Boston Celtics and Jayson Tatum (32 points) with 33 points and 12 assists. Also, time and age were defied by LeBron James (31 points), Stephen Curry (38 points), and Kevin Durant (27 points).
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Kartik Mudaliar
(796 Articles Published)