- Most-watched NBA Finals Game 3 ever on ABC and ESPN
- Game 3 viewership up 159 % from last year; audience peaked with 26.3M viewers
- Largest television audience since Super Bowl LX
- NBA Finals All-Access with The Pat McAfee Showsets viewership record for an ESPN NBA alt-cast
ABC and ESPN delivered the largest NBA Finals Game 3 audience since 1998, averaging 23.8M viewers, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel. The Game 3 audience was up 159% from last year’s Game 3 and peaked with 26.3M viewers at 11:15 p.m. ET.
Through three games, the 2026 NBA Finals is ABC and ESPN’s second most-watched ever, averaging 19.1M viewers. It is up 114% from last year’s Championship series.
Monday’s Game 3 on ABC and ESPN was the largest television audience since Super LX in February. Additionally, NBA Finals Game 3 was the most-watched program of the day across all of television and in all key male and adult demos for June 8.
NBA Finals All‑Access with The Pat McAfee Show – ESPN’s alternate presentation of Game 3 – averaged 1.1M viewers — the most‑watched NBA alternate telecast ever on ESPN.
ESPN’s coverage of the 2026 NBA Finals on ABC continues Wednesday, June 10, with Game 4, at 8:30 p.m. For the full schedule, visit ESPNPressRoom.com. ESPN has produced the NBA Finals on ABC since 2003.
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ESPN media contacts: ben.cafardo@espn.com; ronce.rajan@espn.com.
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