• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 7 hours ago

Can one major sports TV market -- and one team -- change the scoring of the sports TV ecosystem?

Sure. But consider the content and the storyline of a sports airing to make a dent as well. And then there are demographics.

Eight New York Knicks games carried on TNT in May amassed nearly seven billion viewing minutes, according to Nielsen.

Overall, the NBA Playoffs generated 31.4 billion viewing minutes for the month across Warner Bros. Discovery and Walt Disney platforms, “with nearly a quarter of the viewing total attributable to Knicks games."

But smaller NBA teams are not left out of picture. The recently concluded, closely fought NBA Finals series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indianapolis Pacers went through the full seven games.

No surprise that the seventh and deciding game viewership rose 60% over its seven-game average to 16.4 million viewers.

That game was the NBA Finals' best result in six years --- the Toronto Raptors vs. the Golden State Warriors series, which averaged 18.3 million viewers in 2019.

Nielsen ranks Oklahoma City as the 39th largest DMA market, while Indianapolis comes in 25th.

Although the event was hampered by the 90-minute rain delay, it was the second-most-watched East Coast U.S. Open in 12 years -- and the most- streamed golf event on NBC’s Peacock.

The winner JJ Spaun was an underdog, came out of nowhere, and made a 65-foot winning putt. That final stroke pulled in nine million TV and streaming viewers.

This year it is estimated that 118 million U.S. viewers will stream their favorite sports -- up from 71% compared to 2021.

Will any of this change what drives viewers to big sporting events in the future?

Consider all the dynamics that pull in big audiences and then factor in the data point that streaming/TV generally lures in younger viewers -- many more with mobile devices in their hands.

Better storylines? Ease of streaming accessibility?

Perhaps a good rainstorm could wash away perceived winning notions.