NBA play-in games, which were introduced in 2021 to hand the teams placed seventh to tenth on the table a chance to participate in a knockout tournament to win a go at the play-offs, have been drawing some impressive viewership numbers this time around.
The viewership across those games last season was largely flat. However, this time around, that has not been the case with the Los Angeles Lakers – Minnesota Timberwolves game averaging 3.47 million viewers on TNT, taking its place as the third-largest most-watched event in its history (from a total of 17 games). The Lakers’ overtime victory against Timberwolves ensured that their match-up against opponents successfully beat the Clippers – Timberwolves game last time around (2.70 million).
For this season, Lakers – Timberwolves’ numbers are the second highest only behind Lakers – Warriors on TNT opening night.
The numbers have gone up a significant 29% in comparison to the last year with the game also being held at a similar time of the year.
The Atlanta Hawks – Miami Heat game also drew in 2.25 million viewers on TNT while the Chicago Bulls – Toronto Raptors had an estimated 2.34 million viewers on ESPN and ESPN2 at any point during the game. Oklahoma City Thunder’s win over New Orleans Pelicans also managed to register a whopping 2.86 million viewers on ESPN.
There was only an average of 1.6 million viewers on ESPN, ABC, and TNT across the regular season but TNT and Disney will hope that this upward trend in viewership numbers will continue.
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