Surprising Nuggets vs. Heat TV Ratings Revealed

Fans tuned into Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat

When the Miami Heat vs. Denver Nuggets NBA Finals matchup was announced, many discussed the potential TV ratings drop-off that would occur from last year's matchup between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors. While Game 1 between Denver and Miami was down a bit from last year's matchup, the drop-off was marginal, which may be surprising to those who have seen the narrative surrounding this matchup.

Following Game 1 of this year's NBA Finals, TVLine published the following:

"The Nuggets of Denver's Game 1 win over the Heat from Miami averaged 7.6 million total viewers and a 2.2 demo rating, down just 5% in audience from the prelim numbers for last year’s Celtics/Warriors opener." 

As previously mentioned, there was a slight drop-off from last year's opener to this year's opener, but it was only a 5% difference in audience. This will be an interesting development to follow as the series goes on. While TV ratings are ultimately insignificant to most fans, it's become a prevalent enough talking point for this particular series that it's worth keeping up on.

What's so great about the NBA, is that while neither Miami nor Denver are comparable to Golden State or Boston in terms of popularity, both teams have major stars that are exciting to watch. Nikola Jokic has been breaking records all postseason, and Jimmy Butler has led an 8th seed to an improbable run.

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