NBA Opening Week sets record with nearly 50 million viewers

Tyrese Maxey and the Sixers defeated the defending champion Knicks on opening night of the 2026-27 season.

After a

record opening night

, the NBA maintained its historically strong viewership through Opening Week.

Nearly 50 million people in the U.S. watched NBA games across NBC/Peacock, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and NBA TV through the first week of the season, the most ever and up 34% vs. last season.

For the first time, eight Opening Week games each averaged at least 2 million viewers.

NBC Sports and Peacock

NBA Tip-Off on NBC and Peacock delivered the

most-watched opening night ever

with

Tuesday’s 76ers-Knicks and Thunder-Spurs doubleheader averaging 6.41 million viewers on NBC/Peacock, up 14% vs. last year.

The 76ers’ victory over the Knicks was the league’s most-watched primetime opening night game ever. It averaged 7.71 million viewers, up 32% year-over-year, and peaked at 9.1 million viewers at 9:45 p.m. ET.

Tuesday’s 76ers-Knicks and Thunder-Spurs doubleheader was the NBA’s most-watched opening night ever, averaging 6.41 million viewers on NBC/Peacock.

The 76ers’ victory over the Knicks was the league’s most-watched primetime opening night game ever, averaging 7.71 million viewers…

pic.twitter.com/E6oFUw23Ks

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR)

October 22, 2026

ESPN

ESPN’s NBA Opening Week delivered its

largest audience since 2014

, averaging 2.3 million viewers across four games.

ESPN’s opening Wednesday doubleheader averaged 2.5 million viewers, which marked the second most-viewed opening Wednesday ever. The 76ers’ victory over the Cavaliers on Oct. 22 averaged 2.5 million viewers, up 26% from last year’s comparable game. It was the largest opening Thursday audience since 2018.

Last week's

@ESPNNBA

Opening Week delivered its largest audience since 2014!

🏀 2.3M avg. viewers, up 6% YoY

🏀

@cavs

–

@sixers

had the largest Opening Thursday audience since 2018 (2.5M viewers)

More:

https://t.co/xT1expY8mV

pic.twitter.com/qTu9blJagK

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR)

October 26, 2026

Prime Video

Prime Video had its most-viewed NBA regular-season doubleheader ever, up 114% from its regular-season average last season. Knicks-Celtics was up 83% from Prime Video’s opening game last season.

🏀 ‼️

@NBAonPrime

tipped off the second season of its exclusive coverage with impressive YoY gains for both the blockbuster doubleheader and NBA Nightcap! 🏀 📈

pic.twitter.com/n0JvQDtlhu

— PrimeVideoSportsPR (@PrimeSportsPR)

October 28, 2026