Post by National Basketball Association (NBA)

Knicks-Spurs was the most-watched NBA Finals in 28 years, averaging 20.6 million viewers per game on ABC and ESPN. The Knicks’ series-clinching win in Game 5 averaged 24.5 million viewers and peaked with 33 million viewers — marking the most-watched Game 5 in 28 years. The league also had its most-watched postseason in 28 years across ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and NBC/Peacock. The 2026 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs generated a record 15 billion views and counting on social media, the most ever for an NBA Finals and nearly triple the previous record set in 2025. Game 5 generated more than 4 billion views, surpassing the previous single-game record set during Game 4. The New York Knicks set an all-time Fanatics merchandise record for any championship team ever across all sports in the first 24 hours following their clinching win in Game 5. The 2026 NBA Finals set a new league record for merchandise sales across NBAStore.com, Fanatics, team stores and third-party retail, doubling the previous NBA Finals record set in 2020.