ESPN is seriously misleading the NBA ratings on Christmas Day

ESPN posted on Thursday on “NBA action on ESPN platforms delivered the most-watched holiday in FIVE YEARS‼️,” ESPN exclaimed before the following three data points:

• 84% compared to last year
• #LakeShow vs. #DubNation (7.7M), most-watched NBA reg. Season game since 2019
• Viewership has increased by 4% since the start of the season

While technically the data points are ExactlyESPN had to leave out a lot of context to get to these points. So much so that the graphics tell a completely different story than reality.

Let’s take it step by step:

ESPN says the number of games is up 84 percent compared to last year. Kind of.

Last year, three of the five Christmas games were broadcast exclusively on ESPN, a cable network. This year, all five games were broadcast on ESPN And ABC, a radio station.

The addition of ABC, which is seen in far more homes than ESPN, can easily add another 500,000 to 2 million viewers to a live sporting event. This is often the case.

Additionally, the NBA competed in three NFL games last Christmas. The NFL only has two NFL games scheduled on Wednesday, leaving the NBA as the only sport on television after 7:30 p.m. ET.

That leads us to No. 2: the claims that Lakers-Warriors “was the highest-rated regular season game since 2019.”

Young Boston Celtics fans wearing Santa hats watch the fourth quarter at TD Garden in Boston. (Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

ESPN showed its hottest match (LeBron vs. Curry) on Christmas (the day most Americans are at home) in prime time on ABC, with no competition from the NFL. In previous years, ESPN booked its hottest matchup against a football game at 3:30 p.m., making the primetime block exclusive to ESPN.

For example, last Christmas Day at 8pm ET, ESPN aired Heat vs. 76ers only on cable.

Finally, it’s unclear what ESPN means when it announces “4% year-over-year growth season to date.” This data point is neither mentioned nor explained in the official press release. But like the rest of the article, it appears to be aggressively misleading.

Last week, this season’s NBA games averaged 1.4 million viewers across ABC, ESPN NBATV and TNT, down 25 percent from last season. Games on ESPN alone fell 28 percent. So ESPN either picks a random ratings metric or applies the inflated 84 percent Christmas increase to the nearly 30 percent decline.

ESPN will be so mad that we caught these spins. Luckily, most dutiful members of the press didn’t bother to look at the reviews before sharing them.

Take a look:

By the way, OutKick’s live coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics is up more than 84 percent compared to our coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics in 2023.

Does Bomani also care?