The Denver Nuggets were crowned NBA champions on Monday after winning Game 5 of the 2023 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. While it was a historic moment for Denver, which clinched its first-ever title, the series did not do well for the league and its partners.
Game 5 averaged over 13.08 million fans in the elimination game but the rest of the series did not perform as strong.
Unsurprisingly, Denver had the largest local media market for the NBA Finals. With the Nuggets looking for their first NBA championship ring, Denver has earned a rating of 21.55 through all five games, more than any home market in the United States.
The largest local markets to tune into include Denver, Miami, West Palm Beach (Florida), Milwaukee, and Richmond (Virginia). While the NBA Finals teams were well represented in the television ratings, the Heat-Nuggets series averaged only 11.64 million viewers.
Notably, some of the league’s largest media markets, including Los Angeles, New York, and Boston, were not in the top ten.
This is the average household rating for the top 10 domestic markets for all five NBA Finals games.
- Denver, Colorado – Rating 21.55
- Miami, Florida — 14.8 rating
- West Palm Beach, Florida – Rating 10.9
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Rating of 8.54
- Richmond, VA – Rating 8.51
- San Antonio – Rating 8.26
- San Francisco – Rating 7.98
- Memphis – Rating 7.95
- Chicago – 7.61 rating
- Norfolk – Rating 7.6
Watch Miami Heat vs Denver Nuggets TV
The fifth match broadcast on Monday peaked at 17.83 million viewers in the final minutes of the match. Compared to Golden State Warriors vs Boston Celtics Game 5, the Nuggets vs Heat averaged 13.08 million viewers compared to 13.02 last year.
Although viewership has been high during the NBA playoffs, the Finals series has ranked fifth in viewership for the NBA Finals since the 1980s.
The best markets for the series came from Denver and Miami, with larger markets like Los Angeles and Boston not even in the top ten.
Viewership for the NBA Finals is down 6% as of 2022
Viewership for the five-game Heat vs Nuggets series is down six percent from the 2022 NBA Finals.
Not only was the series short, but the participating teams also played a role in the decline this year.
The two NBA Finals teams ranked outside the largest media markets in the NBA, with Denver and Miami ranking 14th and 16th in market size, respectively.