Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks didn’t exactly help out ABC in the ratings department.
It was reported on Friday that Game 1 averaged 10.99 million viewers. If you take out the COVID seasons, that would make it the least-watched opening game of the NBA Finals since 2007.
That’s not ideal for ABC, especially since the Finals is supposed to be a huge draw for the network.
With that said, NBA fans offered their best guesses as to why Game 1 flopped so hard.
“No one wants to listen to Doris Burke. The officiating is horrible. We don’t want to watch a foul call every time down the court. Start calling traveling violations too. On top of that the NBA is doing a terrible job marketing the series,” one fan wrote on X.
Another fan said, “I think people tuned out from the long break and the fact the conference finals were uncompetitive.”
“The league went from MJ, Kobe, to Bron and now who? Talking about global stars,” a third fan added.
If the Celtics continue to look dominant against the Mavericks, fans may give up on the Finals before it ends.
Game 2 of the Finals will take place on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET.