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NBA Claws Back From Ratings Struggles With Record-Breaking Christmas Slate

Santa had the perfect present for the league.

Brigid Kennedy

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James on Dec 25, 2024.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James on Dec 25, 2024. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Is it a Christmas miracle?

Despite the ongoing conversation around the NBA's viewership decline, the league delivered its most-watched Christmas Day in five years on Wednesday, averaging 5.25 million viewers per game in the U.S. Overall, viewership was up 84% across platforms.

At the front of the pack was the Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors nail-biter, which saw LeBron James and Stephen Curry go head-to-head for a 115–113 finish. That game averaged 7.76 million viewers, the most-watched NBA regular season and Christmas Day game in five years.

The remaining four games—New York Knicks vs. San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Dallas Mavericks, and Denver Nuggets vs. Phoenix Suns—also saw year-over-year viewership increases vs. the comparable windows from 2023.

It was a much-needed statement from and victory for the league, which is currently fighting off accusations of decline and disinterest amid reports of dwindling ratings. And worse yet, they had to compete with the NFL and Netflix, who programmed two high-profile match-ups and a star-studded halftime show for the same day, which reported high viewership as well.

But the NBA survived; not only were there plenty of eyes on the Yuletide duels, but the contests themselves were exciting—the average margin was 5 points, which is the closest ever for a Christmas with 5+ games, per the NBA.

And even the players were making statements when the day was done. Case in point: "I love the NFL," James told reporter Lisa Salters after defeating the Warriors, "but Christmas is our day."

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Brigid Kennedy
BRIGID KENNEDY

Brigid Kennedy is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, she covered political news, sporting news and culture at TheWeek.com before moving to Livingetc, an interior design magazine. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, dual majoring in television, radio and film (from the Newhouse School of Public Communications) and marketing managment (from the Whitman School of Management). Offline, she enjoys going to the movies, reading and watching the Steelers.

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