The Knicks and Spurs just had an incredibly exciting series. Despite only going 5 games, this years’ NBA finals was extremely fun to watch. But I did not expect this finals to be the most viewed in almost 30 years! The 2026 finals averaged over 20 million viewers per game, after the most watched NBA postseason since 1998.

Game 5 peaked at 33 million viewers to watch the Knicks clinch their first title in 53 years. But the ratings don’t stop there, the impact social media plays was a huge factor. This years’ finals generated 15 billion views across social media, tripling the previous record set in 2025. Game 5 alone had 4 billion views, surpassing the previous record set in game 4.

These numbers tell me two things. One, people will always tune in to the big market teams, especially when they haven’t won in a while. As much as I love to root for the underdog story, there’s no denying that when big market, historic franchises are involved in the finals the viewership jumps exponentially. It also tells me there’s no denying it, Victor Wembanyama is the new face of the league. While he’s still chasing that first ring, nobody has to chase viewers when Wemby is on the screen.

The success goes further than the viewers too. After winning the championship, the Knicks set a record for all time championship merchandise sales on Fanatics. That record goes across all teams, in all sports…

This gives me a lot of hope. Especially that the NBA will continue the upscale production that is the NBA finals. In recent years it almost felt like watching a regular season game. Well not this year, the production was back, the stars were back, and the finals was ELECTRIC