Just one year ago, the Celtics were battling for their 18th championship in team history against the hated Lakers, and Boston was a hotbed of hoops interest. But with the C's knocked out in the Eastern Conference semifinals and the Bruins going all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, Boston has tuned out the NBA.
Through the first five games of the NBA Finals, Boston has been one of the lowest rated television markets amongst the league's 27 market areas, according to Sports Media Watch. The city drew a league-low 4.5 rating for Tuesday's Game 4, and drew the second-lowest market rating for Games 1-3. Only Minneapolis-St. Paul had lower ratings for the first three games among NBA markets.
While interest in Boston has waned, other markets can't seem to get enough. Boosted by the Thunder's run to the Western Conference Finals, Oklahoma City has averaged a 13.3 rating, a 102 percent increase from last year's ratings. NBA market areas in 12 cities have drawn ratings higher than the national average, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Cleveland, the city that saw LeBron James bolt for the Heat only a year ago.
Even markets without NBA teams are captivated by the Finals. Birmingham, Las Vegas and Norfolk, Va. have drawn ratings above the national average, while Kansas City, San Diego, Nashville, Dayton and Jacksonville have outdrawn Boston. Seattle, which lost the Supersonics to Oklahoma City in 2008, nearly doubled Boston's Game 4 rating as well.
Low ratings in Beantown are nothing new as Boston finished with the lowest Finals ratings in 2004 and 2006, and the second-lowest ratings in 2001 and 2005.
Some may point to the Stanley Cup Final as a detractor to local viewership, but the NBA and NHL have set up their championship schedule so that each league has a night to its own. The Red Sox recent schedule has also been kind to the NBA, as only two games of the Finals have been televised at the same time as Sox games.
Boston viewers looking for a reason to watch Sunday night's Game 6 might be interested in the Mavericks' J.J. Barea, who played his college ball at Northeastern University. Barea, who is averaging 7.6 points-per-game in the Finals, is in search of his first NBA title.
