Thunder win in Game 7 draws highest NBA Finals viewership in 6 years

Field Level Media|published: Mon 23rd June, 17:57 2025

NBA: Finals-Indiana Pacers at Oklahoma City Thunder

Jun 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; The Oklahoma City Thunder celebrate after winning game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

An otherwise mediocre NBA Finals in terms of viewership put on a historic show on Sunday thanks to Game 7.

As the Oklahoma City Thunder won 103-91 to claim the franchise's first title since winning as the Seattle SuperSonics in 1979, Game 7 drew an average of 16.353 million viewers on ABC and ESPN+, peaking at 19.281 million in the 15 minutes leading up to 10 p.m. ET.

The result: Sunday's Game 7 becomes the most-watched NBA Finals contest since Game 6 of the 2019 Finals between Golden State and Toronto, which attracted 18.3 million viewers.

Overall, the 2025 installment averaged 10.266 million viewers, which is down from 11.3 million in last year's five-game series between Boston and Dallas. Market size could certainly have played a factor, considering Indianapolis stands as the 25th-largest media market in the country while Oklahoma City ranks 47th.

According to ESPN, the entire 2025 playoffs aired on its network and ABC averaged 6.118 million viewers across 34 games, reflecting a 10 percent increase from a year ago.

--Field Level Media