The NBA’s expanded television and streaming presence helped produce significant audience growth during the first season of its 11-year, $76 billion media rights agreement.
Average game viewership increased 16% to 1.78 million, giving the league its strongest regular-season audience in seven years.
Greater exposure on traditional broadcast television played an important role. NBC and ABC carried 62 regular-season games, compared with only 24 the previous season.
That figure will increase again to 71 games in 2026-27.
Streaming experienced an even bigger jump. Digital platforms attracted $874 million in advertising spending after generating just $10 million during the 2024-25 campaign.
Prime Video also helped the NBA reach younger viewers. Amazon’s broadcasts had a median audience age of 46.9 years, compared with 56 for traditional linear television.
Entertainment and media companies were the biggest advertising spenders at $232.7 million, followed by technology brands at $215 million.
NBA’s Television Ad Revenue Increases By 38 Percent To Reach $2.11 Billion https://t.co/tTEHZgdfL2
— RealGM (@RealGM) August 18, 2026
