LeBron James is going to have to make room for the NFL.
Wednesday's doubleheader on Netflix set records as the most-streamed NFL games in US history, with numbers nearly five times more than the NBA.
The Baltimore Ravens' 31-2 victory over the Houston Texans averaged 24.3 million while Kansas City's 29-10 win at Pittsburgh averaged 24.1 according to early viewer figures released by Nielsen on Thursday.
Nielsen also said there were 65 million US viewers who tuned in for at least one minute of one of the two games, The AP reported.
The NBA's five-game slate averaged about 5.25 million viewers per game across ABC, ESPN and its platforms, according to the league and Nielsen.
“I love the NFL,” James said in his televised postgame interview Wednesday night. “But Christmas is our day.”
While the NBA's Christmas lineup has its best viewer numbers in five years, the NFL has made Christmas one of its tentpole events during the regular season, joining Kickoff Weekend and Thanksgiving.
“The numbers speak for themselves and LeBron can have his own view, and I’m sure more people will look at that because of this," said Hans Schroeder, the executive vice president of NFL Media. "But, you know, we’re focused on the NFL and we’re thrilled with the results this year with the Christmas on Netflix and we’re excited to continue to build that over the next couple of years.”
Both NFL games surpassed the previous mark of 23 million for last season’s AFC wild-card game between the Miami Dolphins and Chiefs on Peacock.
Viewership for Ravens-Texans peaked with the Beyoncé Bowl. The 20-minute halftime performance averaged over 27 million viewers.
The viewer figures include the audience on Netflix, mobile viewership on NFL+ and those who tuned in on CBS stations in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Baltimore and Houston.
Global ratings and final US numbers are expected to be available on Tuesday.
The NFL's Christmas numbers decreased from last season, but not at the rate that usually happens when something goes from broadcast to streaming.
Last year’s three games averaged 28.68 million viewers. The early afternoon contest between the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs led the way, averaging 29.48 million on CBS.
Once global and Netflix's first-party data is released, both Christmas games should surpass 30 million.
The NBA's lineup saw an 84% rise over 2023. One reason for the increase is that all five games were on ABC, compared to two last year.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ 115-113 victory over the Golden State Warriors — a game pitting Olympic teammates LeBron James and Stephen Curry — averaged 7.76 million viewers and peaked with about 8.32 million viewers toward the end of the contest, the league said.
Those numbers represent the most-watched NBA regular season game in five years.
The NBA said all five Christmas games on its schedule — San Antonio at New York in Victor Wembanyama's holiday debut, Minnesota at Dallas, Philadelphia at Boston, Denver at Phoenix and Lakers-Warriors — saw year-over-year viewership increases.
Wednesday's numbers pushed NBA viewership for the season across ESPN platforms to up 4% over last season. The league also saw more than 500 million video views on its social media platforms Wednesday, a new record.
For the NBA, those are all good signs amid cries that NBA viewership is hurting.
“Ratings are down a bit at beginning of the season. But cable television viewership is down double digits so far this year versus last year," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month. “You know, we’re almost at the inflection point where people are watching more programing on streaming than they are on traditional television. And it’s a reason why for our new television deals, which we enter into next year, every game is going to be available on a streaming service.”
Part of that new package of television deals that the NBA is entering into next season also increases the number of regular season games broadcast on television from 15 to 75.
