The NBA is off to a strong start in its new media era. National broadcasts on NBC and Peacock, Amazon Prime Video and ESPN have drawn more than 60 million viewers through the first month of the regular season, the league announced Thursday.
It is the NBA’s best opening month in 15 years.
The total does not include the 2011-12 season, which began on Christmas Day, traditionally one of the biggest viewing days of the year.
Even without that bump, the early returns are encouraging as the league begins its 11-year, $76 billion broadcast partnership.
NBA content has also generated more than 30 billion views across the league’s owned and third-party social channels, a record pace for this point in the season.
Merchandise sales on NBAStore.com are up more than 20 percent, driven in part by what the league calls its “next generation stars,” a group that includes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Victor Wembanyama, Tyrese Maxey, Cooper Flagg, Jalen Brunson and Luka Doncic.
NBA League Pass is trending upward, too. Subscriptions are up 10 percent and total viewing time is up 8 percent.
Attendance remains strong. The league is pacing near last season’s marks, which produced the second-highest attendance in NBA history at roughly 97 percent capacity.
Ten teams have sold out every home game so far — the Celtics, Cavaliers, Warriors, Rockets, Heat, Knicks, Thunder, Suns, Spurs and Jazz.
Others, such as Atlanta and Charlotte, have seen attendance rise nearly 10 percent.
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