Key Points
- The Oklahoma City Thunder led the NBA in viewership with 1.8 million viewers per game during the 2025–26 season, according to data from Nielsen.
- NBA regular-season viewership increased 27%, driven by expanded distribution across streaming and traditional platforms.
- Other sports also saw gains, including NHL viewership rising 25% and IndyCar audiences up 44%.
The Oklahoma City Thunder finished atop Nielsen’s rankings of the most-watched NBA teams during the 2025-26 regular season, averaging 1.8 million viewers per game as professional basketball posted one of the strongest audience gains across major sports.
According to Nielsen’s Spring 2026 Tops of Sports report, the Thunder led all NBA teams in average viewership despite falling short of a berth in the NBA Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers ranked second, followed by the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks.
The Lakers also benefited from the continued popularity of LeBron James, who finished as the league’s most-watched player during the regular season. San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama ranked second, proving out the the growing appeal of the league’s emerging generation of talent.
The findings come as professional basketball experienced substantial audience growth during the 2025-26 season. Nielsen said average NBA regular-season viewership increased 27 percent compared with the prior year, while early-round playoff games were up 10 percent.
The audience gains coincided with the league’s expanded media distribution strategy. New rights agreements brought NBA games to streaming platforms including Prime Video, Peacock and ESPN Unlimited, while traditional broadcast and cable partners ABC, NBC and ESPN continued to deliver large audiences.
Basketball was not alone in posting significant gains: Nielsen reported NHL regular-season viewership increased 25 percent to an average of 540,000 viewers per game. First-round Stanley Cup Playoff games saw even stronger growth, with audiences rising 77 percent to 1.2 million viewers.
The measurement company attributed part of hockey’s momentum to several cultural and media events beyond the ice, including gold medal victories by the U.S. men’s and women’s hockey teams at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Streaming content also played a role, with Prime Video’s “Off-Campus” and HBO Max’s “Heated Rivalry” helping generate additional interest in the sport.
Fan engagement metrics reflected that growing popularity. Nielsen said followers of the NHL’s official TikTok account increased 83 percent during the season, while the national television debut of the Professional Women’s Hockey League drew approximately 133,000 viewers on Ion.
Auto racing also posted strong gains. Nielsen reported that the first five races of the 2026 IndyCar season averaged 1.2 million viewers, up 44 percent from the same period last year. The increase follows last year’s Indianapolis 500, which attracted more than 7 million viewers, the event’s largest audience in 17 years.
Golf viewership also continued to rise. PGA Tour broadcasts are averaging 1.5 million viewers this year, while Nielsen data showed growing interest among younger and more diverse audiences. Asian viewership of PGA Tour events increased 12 percent, a trend Nielsen linked in part to the emergence of players including Collin Morikawa, Akshay Bhatia and Si Woo Kim.
