The New York Knicks' first NBA championship in 53 years was not just a basketball milestone. It was a television event.
The Knicks' 94-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night averaged 24.5 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, according to ESPN. That made it the most-watched Game 5 of the NBA Finals since 1998, when Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were still dominating the league.
The Knicks closed out the series in five games, ending one of the longest title droughts in the league. New York had not won an NBA championship since 1973.
The viewership number places the game among the most-watched NBA broadcasts in recent memory and reflects the national attention that followed the Knicks through the postseason. Madison Square Garden, one of the most famous arenas in American sports, had been waiting five decades for a moment like this one.
The 1998 comparison is notable. That year, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz in six games, with Michael Jordan hitting the series-clinching shot. Games from that era routinely drew audiences that modern sports broadcasts rarely match. Saturday's Game 5 came close to reaching that standard.
No further viewership breakdowns by network were immediately available, but the combined ABC and ESPN audience of 24.5 million ranks the game as one of the most-watched sporting events of the 2025-26 television season.
