ESPN is celebrating a blockbuster opening to the current NBA season, recording its second most-watched start in over two decades of broadcasting the league's games.
Record-Breaking Numbers for ESPN's NBA Coverage
According to data from the network and Nielsen, ESPN averaged 2.1 million viewers across its first 21 regular-season games broadcast through the Christmas period. This figure represents a substantial 35% increase compared to the same stage last season and stands as the network's second-highest average for a full season start since it began airing NBA games in 2002. The only season to surpass these numbers was the 2010-11 campaign.
Key Demographic Surges and New Media Deal
The growth in audience is not uniform, with particularly strong engagement from specific groups. Viewership among women has skyrocketed by 47%, while the Hispanic audience has grown by an impressive 37%. This surge in interest comes during the inaugural year of the NBA's landmark 11-year media rights agreement with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon's Prime Video, signalling a robust start for the new broadcasting era.
Studio Shows Also Enjoy Ratings Boost
The positive trend extends beyond live games to ESPN's studio programming. "Inside the NBA", in its debut season on ESPN after moving from TNT, is averaging 1.2 million viewers. This marks a staggering 135% increase over its regular-season average on its former network last year. Its Christmas Day special proved especially popular, drawing 5.1 million viewers—the show's largest regular-season audience ever.
Furthermore, ESPN's weekday studio show, "NBA Today," is also seeing growth. It is currently averaging 361,000 viewers, which is a 26% rise from the equivalent period last year.
The data, reported on Thursday 8 January 2026, underscores a period of remarkable strength and growing popularity for NBA content on ESPN as the new media rights cycle gets underway.
