NBA opening week draws nearly 50 million U.S. viewers, the most ever and up 34% from last season

Nearly 50 million people in the United States watched NBA games during the first week of the 2026-27 season, the league said on Thursday, Oct. 29. That is the most ever for an opening week and 34% more than a year ago, which puts last season’s comparable figure at roughly 37 million.

The count covers every national window: NBC and Peacock, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and NBA TV. For the first time, eight games in the opening week each averaged at least 2 million viewers. The week began with the most-watched opening night in league history, and the audience held up across the rest of the week.

The numbers, network by network

Window	What the league reported
Opening night on NBC and Peacock (Oct. 20)	Doubleheader averaged 6.41 million, up 14%; the most-watched opening night ever
76ers at Knicks (Oct. 20)	7.71 million average, up 32%; peaked at 9.1 million at 9:45 p.m. ET
Four opening-week games on ESPN	2.3 million average, up 6%; the network’s largest opening-week audience since 2014
Opening Wednesday doubleheader on ESPN (Oct. 21)	2.5 million average, the second most-viewed opening Wednesday ever
Cavaliers at 76ers on ESPN (Oct. 22)	2.5 million, up 26%; the largest opening Thursday audience since 2018
Prime Video doubleheader	Most-viewed regular-season doubleheader on the service, up 114% on its average last season
Knicks-Celtics on Prime Video	Up 83% on the service’s opening game a year ago

The league did not give an average audience for the Prime Video games, only the percentage gains. It also did not split the nearly 50 million figure by network. The total is a reach figure, counting people who watched NBA games during the week, rather than an average audience per game.

Why the 76ers-Knicks game carried the week

The opener had almost everything a television executive could want: LeBron James in his first game for Philadelphia, a Madison Square Garden crowd watching the defending champion Knicks, and Tyrese Maxey and the 76ers spoiling the Knicks’ ring night with a 106-100 win. Its peak of 9.1 million viewers came late in the game. The same two franchises showed up again on the ESPN side of the week, when Philadelphia’s win over Cleveland on Oct. 22 drew 2.5 million.

The numbers stop at the end of the first week. They do not include the next round of big moments, such as Jayson Tatum’s overtime buzzer-beater against Brooklyn on Oct. 27 or Luka Dončić scoring 41 for the Lakers the same night in a loss to unbeaten Portland.

Year two of the new deals

This is the second season of the league’s 11-year national media agreements with NBC, Amazon and ESPN, which replaced the old arrangement that had Turner as a partner. Last season was the first for NBC and Peacock in more than two decades and the first for Prime Video as an exclusive NBA partner, so the 34% jump compares two seasons under the same set of networks.

Local viewing is a separate story. Several teams have moved their regional games to streaming or free over-the-air channels, and we laid out what it costs to follow your team without cable this season. Those regional audiences are not part of the league’s national total.

What comes next

The next test is the Emirates NBA Cup, whose group stage opens on Friday, Oct. 30, with 10 games, including Lakers at Warriors on Prime Video. The full slate, with tip times, is in today’s NBA schedule. Follow every league-wide story on our Around the league page.