Ratings discussion is an important part of the business around any sports league, including the NBA. Granted, that\u2019s often more about the overall long-term picture than any individual year\u2019s ratings, but ratings do matter to ad rates, upcoming rights deals, and even franchise valuations.<\/p>\n
Even with that said, though, it\u2019s unusual to see ratings specifically brought up on a championship broadcast. But that\u2019s what ESPN\u2019s Doris Burke did Sunday. There, her comments came towards the end of ABC\u2019s broadcast of the Oklahoma City Thunder\u2019s Game 7 NBA Finals victory over the Indiana Pacers, and were intended as part of a salute to these teams:<\/p>\n
Doris Burke and Mike Breen paid tribute to both the Pacers and Thunder after an epic NBA Finals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe heard an awful lot about small markets, Mike, ratings, etc. This has been an absolute privilege of a series to be involved with. All these men gave their heart and soul.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/ntuswmyrKr<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n What\u2019s interesting there is that the last two sentences \u2014 \u201cThis has been an absolute privilege of a series to be involved with. All these men gave their heart and soul\u201d \u2014 could work without any discussion of ratings or markets leading into them. And the markets discussion in particular is completely unlinked from the on-court product.<\/p>\n A championship series between small markets might wind up being incredibly compelling. It could even draw better ratings than a clash between bigger markets if it pulls in more national fans unaffiliated with the two teams. But it doesn\u2019t change the size of those markets.<\/p>\n And this is what many miss when discussing the markets in a series. The markets involved provide a starting point, but there can still be major changes from there due to numerous other factors. We saw that in the differing ratings for the NHL\u2019s last two Stanley Cup Finals despite the repeat matchup.<\/p>\n The other key separation there is the fact of market size versus the takes on what it means. The fact involved here is that Indianapolis and Oklahoma City are ranked 25th and 47th respectively by population in the 2024-25 Nielsen designated market areas<\/a>. There are plenty of takes and debates that can arise from that, including \u201cAre small-market Finals bad or good for a league?\u201d and \u201cHow much do markets matter to ratings versus stars?\u201d And many of the takes on these markets have been quite negative, and that appears to be what Burke is referencing here. But factually noting the size of the markets isn\u2019t a take itself.<\/p>\n Beyond that, it\u2019s remarkable to hear a game analyst bring up markets and ratings during a broadcast. Yes, that has been a lot of the wider media discussion around this particular series. That\u2019s even seen NBA commissioner Adam Silver say he\u2019s been surprised<\/a> by how much ratings talk he\u2019s heard. But it\u2019s unusual to see that cross into an actual game broadcast. There isn\u2019t necessarily anything wrong with that, especially with this coming as just a brief mention rather than an extended discussion and with it mostly brought up as a way to try and talk up this series\u2019 on-court play, but it is far from common.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll see what the final ratings for Game 7 and this series wind up being. The ratings were down<\/a> significantly<\/a> year-over-year through five games (even with Nielsen out-of-home expansion), posting several multi-year lows. (Ratings for the sixth and seventh games have not yet officially come out.) Of course, a Game 7 often helps out a poorly-rated series<\/a>, but that may not be as much of the case this time, especially given Tyrese Haliburton\u2019s early injury and the Thunder\u2019s eventual 103-91 win.<\/p>\n In any case, as mentioned, one year\u2019s ratings often don\u2019t wind up affecting all that much. Indeed, despite a lot of hue and cry<\/a> over regular-season and playoff ratings to date (both of which wound up mostly<\/a> fine<\/a>), the $10 billion sale of the Los Angeles Lakers suggests the NBA\u2019s business side looks solid<\/a>. And the league is set for the next 11 years with its new media deals. Still, ratings are still important data points in network\/advertiser price negotiations in particular, and that\u2019s one area where ratings performance relative to past years and relative to other sports does matter.<\/p>\n Does that mean ratings and markets should be discussed on broadcasts? They certainly can be, if on-air talent (and producers and directors) think it\u2019s worth going there. They are part of the business surrounding a league, and that does sometimes come up on broadcasts, especially during pregame and during-game panel segments (much to the chagrin of some league<\/a> figures<\/a>). But ratings discussion itself isn\u2019t often heard on a game broadcast, especially not during the game itself. Burke broke that trend Sunday.<\/p>\n \t