The 2026 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs broke viewership, social media, digital engagement, and merchandise records.
The 2026 NBA Finals was the most-watched in 28 years as the New York Knicks ended its 53-year championship drought beating the San Antonio Spurs 4-1.
The finals averaged 20.6 million viewers across ESPN and ABC, the most since 1998 when Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz in what was ultimately Jordan’s final game for the Bulls.
Game five, which saw the Knicks win the championship in San Antonio, had an average audience of 24.54 million, peaking at 33 million viewers. This was the most-watched game five since 1998.
The 2026 NBA Finals on ABC and ESPN delivered the highest share for an NBA Finals on record (38.3).
Games one and two of the NBA Finals in San Antonio averaged 16.93 and 16.43 million viewers, respectively. Game three – which featured US President Donald Trump in attendance – averaged 23.79 million viewers, whilst game four averaged 20.94 million viewers.
Both games three and four of the 2026 NBA Finals became the most-watched games three and four in NBA history.
Much of the anticipation for this year’s finals centred around the Knicks’ quest for its first NBA championship since 1973. New York is also the largest US media market with 7.8 million TV homes and the Knicks being one of the most supported NBA franchises.
The Spurs also brought in media attention primarily due to being the youngest average aged team to reach the NBA Finals since the 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers. Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama (22) was also in line to become the youngest Finals MVP since Magic Johnson won the award at age 20 in 1980.
Social and Digital record figures
The 2026 NBA Finals also generated record social media and digital engagement figures.
The five game series generated a record 15 billion viewers on social media platforms, nearly triple the number of the 2025 finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers at five billion.
One of the most memorable plays from the 2026 NBA Finals was Knicks player OG Anunoby’s late tip-in with just one second remaining to give the Knicks the lead and complete a historic comeback after being behind by as much as 29 points in game four.
During the close out game five, the NBA generated four billion views as the Knicks was presented with the Larry O’Brien Trophy. This was a record for a single game, beating the previous record which was set during game four of the 2026 finals.
The 2026 NBA Finals continued a record-setting postseason on social media. The league surpassed one billion views on all platforms for the eighth consecutive postseason.
Record-setting merchandise figures
In the immediate aftermath of the Knicks winning game five to win the championship, the team broke the record for the most merchandise sales on Fanatics inside the first 24 hours with 8,000 orders per minute.
Championship-branded Knicks apparel on Fanatics broke the record previously set by the Philadelphia Eagles’ 5,500 orders per minute when the NFL team won the Super Bowl in 2025.
Sam Archibald, Chief Merchandising Officer of Fanatics, told the New York Post: “The order volumes for the Knicks is something we have not seen for any other sport or team.”
The 2026 NBA Finals also set a new league record for merchandise sales on the NBAStore.com, Fanatics, team stores and third-party retail. Finals merchandise sales also doubled the previous NBA Finals record set in 2020.
The victory for the Knicks comes on the back of record sponsorship revenues for the NBA.
