Warriors-Kings Game 7 draws record-breaking TV viewership numbers
The final matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento
Kings had 9.835 million people tuning in, delivering ABC’s largest-ever
non-NBA Finals postseason audience
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By ALEX SIMON | asimon@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 2, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. | UPDATED: May 2, 2023 at 10:10 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/05/02/warriors-kings-game-7-draws-record-breaking-tv-viewership-numbers/

It wasn’t just Steph Curry who was breaking records Sunday — but his
50-point afternoon sure helped.

Game 7 between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings
delivered ABC’s largest-ever non-NBA Finals postseason audience, with
9.835 million people tuning in. The total viewership peaked just shy of
12 million people tuning in from 6-6:15 p.m. Eastern (11.929 million).

Overall, it’s the most-watched first-round game in 24 years and the
most-watched game in the first two rounds of the NBA playoffs since
2001. In fact, SportsMediaWatch points out that in last year’s playoffs,
only the six Warriors NBA Finals games and Game 7 of the Eastern
Conference Finals (Celtics-Heat had 9.88 million viewers) had more
viewers than Sunday’s game.

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Game 7 wasn’t the only game of the first-round series to get massive
television numbers. Friday’s Game 6 on ESPN drew an all-time first-round
record of 4.98 million viewers and peaked at 6.51 million viewers,
despite going directly against the NFL Draft.

The Warriors-Kings showdown also drew massive audiences for the ESPN
family of networks in both Game 1 (6.26 million viewers) and Game 4
(7.52 million viewers), which both aired on ABC.

The three games of the series that aired on TNT did well, too, as Game 2
had 4.32 million viewers, Game 3 had 4.12 million and Game 5 had 4.29
million. It’s pretty clear that the defending champions facing off with
a young upstart from the same region has been a captivating storyline to
get casual fans to tune in.

And one has to imagine the NBA is salivating at what’s to come for the
Warriors in the second round: a matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Steph vs. LeBron? NorCal vs. SoCal? The Bay vs. LA? The franchise with
four titles in the past eight years against the franchise with the most
NBA Finals appearances?

It feels safe to assume that the viewership numbers are going to only
get bigger from here.

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Alex Simon | Sports Digital Strategist/Editor
Alex Simon is a sports digital strategist and editor for Bay Area News
Group. He’s been in journalism for years as an editor, reporter and
adjunct professor. Alex is a 2017 graduate of Elon University with a BA
in journalism and a 2019 graduate of Arizona State University with a MA
in journalism. He enjoys weekend adventures and loves In-N-Out Burger a
bit too much.Alex Simon is a sports digital strategist and editor for
Bay Area News Group. He’s been in journalism for years as an editor,
reporter and adjunct professor. Alex is a 2017 graduate of Elon
University with a BA in journalism and a 2019 graduate of Arizona State
University with a MA in journalism. He enjoys weekend adventures and
loves In-N-Out Burger a bit too much.