UPDATE: An ESPN source reached out saying that the game was viewed by 8.8 million people, and the 5.65 million number from TVByTheNumbers isn’t correct. The headline has been updated to reflect ESPN’s figures.
The Los Angeles Lakers losing to the Clippers didn’t generate huge TV ratings Wednesday night.
According to TVByTheNumbers, the game was only watched by 5.65 million people on ABC. ESPN disputes that reporting, and puts the number at 8.8 million viewers. That falls short of the numbers that major NFL and college football games have been generating all year. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
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The NFL would panic if they had a primetime game, and it got less than ten million viewers. People would be panicking and for good reason.
The NBA controls TV on Christmas. Outside of the finals, it’s their big day. Yet, the ratings are laughably bad.
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On top of that, this game featured Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and Kawhi Leonard. It was packed full of NBA stars.
People still didn’t give a damn. If you ever needed a sign that the ratings are in the toilet and people just don’t care about regular season basketball, these numbers should do it for you.
The NBA put two of the best teams in the league in primetime, and it ended with pathetic numbers.
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I don’t know what the fix is for the league, but their TV situation is atrocious at the moment.
*This post and headline have been updated to reflect information given to us by ESPN disputing the original broadcast numbers.