The NBA on NBC made its triumphant return on Tuesday night with a season opening doubleheader. And viewers showed up in a big way.
According to NBC, the network drew an average of 5.9 million viewers across broadcast television and streaming on Peacock for the thrilling double overtime game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets. For the nightcap, the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors drew 5.1 million viewers, an impressive number for a game that started after 11 p.m. ET and did not have LeBron James, who sat out due to injury.
It’s the largest NBA season opening doubleheader since the 2010 season that featured LeBron James debuting with the Miami Heat after The Decision.
The NBA returned to NBC and debuted on Peacock in thrilling fashion on Tuesday night with the first “NBA Tip-Off” double overtime game in 20 years and star-studded performances across a pair of Western Conference matchups, delivering the largest “NBA Tip-Off” doubleheader audience since 2010 (excluding 2011 opening games on Christmas holiday) with an average of 5.6 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, based on official Nielsen Big Data + Panel and digital data from Adobe Analytics. The 2010 NBA Tip-Off doubleheader (5.7 million viewers) featured LeBron James’ debut with the Miami Heat in the opener.
Tuesday night’s audience across NBC and Peacock peaked at 7.1 million viewers from 10:45-11 p.m. ET as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder to a one-point win over the Houston Rockets in double overtime. Alperen Sengun led Houston with 39 points and Kevin Durant scored 23 points in his Rockets’ debut.
For the full game, Thunder-Rockets averaged 5.9 million viewers across NBC and Peacock. It was only the sixth tip-off game to reach double overtime in NBA history and the first since 2005. In the entire 2024-25 season, there were only four double OT games.
The Golden State Warriors-Los Angeles Lakers nightcap averaged 5.1 million viewers across NBC and Peacock (measured from 11:02 p.m. ET, when the game was joined in progress on NBC, to 12:42 a.m. ET). Jimmy Butler scored 31 points and the Warriors hit 17 three-pointers in a 119-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers and Luka Dončić, who scored a game-high 43 points.
Incredibly, the average viewership is up 87% over last year’s opening night on TNT and even exceeds the average of Christmas Day games last season.
NBA on NBC’s Opening Night featuring Thunder vs. Rockets and Warriors vs. Lakers averaged 5.61 million viewers
That’s up 87% over last year’s Opening Night on TNT pic.twitter.com/tQAA5EJypG
— Lev Akabas (@LevAkabas) October 23, 2025
The NFL and college football have seen ratings go up tremendously this season. While it’s not quite a surprise because football is by far the most popular sport in America, they have also been boosted by Nielsen’s new Big Data measurement system, counting far more homes in their survey than they used to. With the NBA now entering into the equation with the start of the 2025-2026 season, the question was asked whether or not they would benefit in the same way.
It’s just one night of data, but so far the answer seems to be yes.
The anticipation of finally getting back a beloved property like the NBA on NBC was probably a big factor as well. Of course, the NBA was also helped by having network exposure for opening night, which will be a significant part of the league’s new deals with NBC, ESPN, and Amazon. The NBA has made a bet with NBC that broadcast exposure will help the league grow with traditional audiences while also hoping that the streaming platforms of Amazon and Peacock will help reach new viewers. Time will tell just how successful the strategy is, but at least the NBA and NBC have to be happy after night one.