NBA Announces Good News on 2025-26 Regular Season Viewership
The 2025-26 NBA regular season wrapped on Sunday with all 30 teams in action, setting the stage for the ongoing SoFi Play-In Tournament.
It kicked off Tuesday night with two banger matches. The Charlotte Hornets edged the Miami Heat 127-126 in overtime, thanks to LaMelo Ball's magical layup with 4.7 seconds left in overtime that helped to secure the thrilling one-point victory.
In the late game, the Portland Trail Blazers held off the Phoenix Suns 114-110, and the action between Dillon Brooks and Deni Avdija, who scored a career-high 41 points, was pleasing to watch.
After those banger matches, the NBA dropped the final viewership numbers of the regular season, and the numbers are eye-opening because it is the highest figure in 24 years and up 86% versus last season.
According to the NBA, 170 million people in the U.S. watched NBA games across ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, NBC/Peacock, and NBA TV during the regular season.
170 million people in the U.S. watched NBA games across ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, NBC/Peacock and NBA TV during the regular season – the most in 24 years and up 86% vs. last season. pic.twitter.com/iXGUISQQIT
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 15, 2026
Not to mention, this growth was driven by the league's new media deal, which added more broadcast windows on NBC and streaming access through Amazon Prime Video.
Early in the season, national games averaged 2.0 million viewers, up double digits from the previous year's TNT-heavy schedule. By season's end, the average across the main partners settled at 1.78 million, the highest in seven years.
On Amazon Prime Video, the average viewer age was 46.6, nearly eight years younger than the average for traditional TV networks. While per-game averages saw a solid 16% rise, the massive jump in total figure shows that younger and casual fans are sampling games more frequently.
League officials and media partners point to the new 11-year media rights deals as a major factor. Plus, high ratings for Christmas Day and the All-Star Game in Los Angeles kept that energy going all winter.
The holiday slate actually saw its best performance in 15 years, with over 47 million people tuning in. The Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors game was a major highlight, averaging 7.76 million viewers.
And hosted in Los Angeles, the 2026 All-Star Weekend drew over 46 million viewers. The All-Star Game itself, featuring a new USA vs. World format, averaged 8.8 million viewers, which was the most since 2011.
So, it is safe to say that the league is entering the playoffs with its strongest numbers in decades. And there is a high hope that the Play-In games on Prime Video will also continue that energy.
However, Prime Video's debut was briefly stalled by technical difficulties during the final minute of the Hornets-Heat overtime period, causing viewers to miss about 22 seconds of game time.
Despite those minor technical snags, the league has a healthy chance to make a new record as the games move to even bigger stages with the first round starting Saturday.
Related: NBA Playoffs TV Deal Brings Controversial Change for Basketball Fans
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This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 12:47 PM.