a New York derby and the two best NBA teams competing against each other, the recipe is infallible

The two fittest teams in the NBA – the Suns and the Warriors – met Tuesday night at the Footprint Center de Phoenix. According to Elias Sports Bureau, this was only the sixth time in NBA history that two teams have faced each other with a win percentage greater than or equal to 85%. This top-of-the-table duel naturally attracted many viewers. The NBA recorded with the Warriors – Suns its best audience on TNT depuis 2019 (Opening Night exclu).

Insider Marc Stein had previously reportedan increase in NBA audiences on American television. Last Tuesday, NBA on TNT gathered on average 2.1 million viewers on broadcast gala matches (Nets – Knicks and Suns – Warriors). Indeed, while the New York derby had 1.8 million viewers, the meeting between the two top names in the Western Conference posted the best figures – 2.4 million viewers – excluding Opening Night since December 2019 and a Lakers – Bucks (2.8 million). a doubleheader very successful and very followed therefore. It was also the most watched since 2019 if we leave aside the season opener.

NBA on TNT’s Knicks/Nets & Warriors/Suns doubleheader delivers strong audience pic.twitter.com/GP2PkWdFkQ

– TurnerSportsPR (@TurnerSportsPR) December 1, 2021

The ratings graph is going up rather satisfactorily for Adam Silver after seeing audience numbers suffer over the past two years, not least due to COVID. The League has not released revenue figures for the shortened 72-game season in 2020-21, but the commissioner was reporting revenue down about 35% last year. Knowing that theTV rights represent around $ 2 billion in revenue for the League according to CNBC, this renewal of the audience – particularly with doubleheaders on TNT – is necessarily a good sign for the NBA recovery. So things seem to be going in the right direction today. Already last year with the advent of Play-in, the League could see the positive with the Lakers – Warriors who became the match most watched since the 2019 Playoffs. With the matches on national television now placed on Tuesday, we are witnessing an increase in audiences of 54% compared to the time of the matches broadcast on Thursday (2019). The NBA’s plan to avoid NFL competition appears to be beneficial to healthy ratings.

The Suns were on a crazy streak and Stephen Curry’s Warriors were in full swing. Cardboard was inevitable. All eyes will now be on the numbers they record in their second leg on Friday, December 3 at the Chase Center.

Text source: Turner Sports, CNBC

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