2015 NBA Finals TV Ratings Are Approaching Michael Jordan Levels

Cleveland 97, Golden State 95 in Game 2 of the NBA Finals generated another record-setting TV audience, pulling in a 12.9 overnight rating and averaging 18.8 million viewers. The numbers are already blowing away last year’s TV audience for the Finals – the Spurs rolling in the series didn’t help – but more importantly, the numbers are so good, you have to go all the way back to Michael Jordan’s final few titles in Chicago to find numbers this large.

The back-to-back 12.9 ratings blow away anything ABC or NBC has had in over a decade for the first two games of the Finals. It obviously helps to have 1) two overtime games, 2) LeBron James, 3) MVP Stephen Curry.

In Jordan’s final Championship year, Bulls vs Jazz pulled in a staggering 18.0 rating for Game 1, and then a 16.6 rating for Game 2. Given the advances in technology, the internet, and the bevy of options for TV viewers, the 2015 Finals TV audience is massively impressive.

In fact, the only three games to top a 12.9 rating in the last five years? The Heat beating the Spurs in Game 7 in 2013 (15.3), the Mavericks closing out the Heat in Game 6 in 2011 (13.3) and the Lakers beating the Celtics in Game 7 in 2010 (15.6).

Game 3 is Tuesday in Cleveland.