Wemby Mania: ESPN had most-watched NBA opening night in 11 years

ESPN had itsmost-watched NBA opening night in 11 years and its second-mostwatched opening night ever, according to Nielsen.

Viewership for theseason-opening doubleheader was up 80% from last year. The firsttwo games of the season on ESPN generated an average audience of2,756,000 viewers, up from 1,532,000 viewers in 2022.

The Boston Celtics'victory over the New York Knicks averaged 2,552,000 viewers,peaking with 4,351,000 viewers at 9:45 p.m. ET. It was themost-watched ESPN season-opening early game since 2012 and up 76%from last year’s early game (New York Knicks vs. MemphisGrizzlies).

The nightcap, whichfeatured the debut of Victor Wembanyama, averaged nearly 3 millionviewers (2,989,000) as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the SanAntonio Spurs. It peaked with 3,903,000 viewers at 10 p.m. ET. Itwas up 83% vs last year’s comparable game (Dallas Mavericks vs.Phoenix Suns) and is the most-watched season-opening ESPN late gamesince 2012. Excluding Christmas Day, it is the most-watched Spursor Mavericks regular-season game ever on ESPN.

The NBA alsoannounced that NBA League Pass viewership was up 220% vs. lastyear's regular-season average. Wembanyama is also driving a ton ofviews across social media. Since the start of the 2023-24 NBApreseason, Wemby has generated 214 million video views, the most ofany player over that span.

The NBA on ESPN wasthe most-watched primetime programming across all of television –broadcast and cable – for October 25 amongst people under 50,adults 18-34, adults 25-54, males 18-34, males 18-49 and males25-54.