Sunday night’s Rockets-Warriors Game 7 averaged 6.6 million viewers. Among cable telecasts, that ranks as most-viewed Game 7 of a first-round NBA series since 2009.
TNT Sports’ Warriors/Rockets game averaged 6.6m viewers on Sun to rank as cable’s most-viewed Rd 1/Gm 7 since 2009
TNT: +4% in viewership over first round of NBA Playoffs, averaging 3.3m viewers & ranking as top cable net in Prime through first two weeks among People Under 35
— TNT Sports U.S. PR (@TNTSportsUS) May 6, 2025
Unfortunately, the Houston Rockets didn’t get the victory in Sunday’s home Game 7 of their first-round 2025 playoff series against the Golden State Warriors.
But they did have plenty of eyeballs on their product.
According to TNT, Sunday night’s game from Houston’s Toyota Center averaged 6.6 million viewers. Among cable telecasts — i.e. excluding ABC games that are available on an over-the-air basis — that ranks as most-viewed Game 7 of a first-round NBA series since 2009.
Overall, TNT says its first-round ratings are up 4% from last season.
As for the Warriors-Rockets clash, it was a fun matchup featuring plenty of juicy storylines with national appeal. At 37 and 35 years old, respectively, it’s not clear how many more playoff runs that future Hall of Famers Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler will have.
There’s also considerable history and animosity between the rival franchises, with Golden State having eliminated the Rockets from the Western Conference playoffs on five separate occasions over a span of less than 10 years.
As for the current team, Houston is a young franchise on the way up, and its All-Star is promising Turkish center Alperen Sengun — who holds international appeal.
All of those factors led to a fun series showcasing both teams, and perhaps it leads to the NBA’s national television partners choosing more Rockets games for next season’s 2025-26 inventory.
In addition to TNT’s ratings, there were also simulcast broadcasts on regional sports networks (RSNs) using team-specific announcers from Houston’s Space City Home Network and Golden State’s NBC Sports Bay Area. Those will further add to the overall Game 7 audience figures.