The NBA’s opening-night return to NBC and Peacock landed with record television numbers, with Tuesday’s doubleheader averaging 6.41 million viewers — the largest audience for an NBA opening night doubleheader on record.
Knicks-76ers carried the primetime window
Philadelphia’s win over New York delivered the biggest single-game audience of the night. The 76ers-Knicks matchup averaged 7.71 million viewers, making it the most-watched primetime game ever played on an NBA opening night.
The audience climbed to 9.1 million viewers at 9:45 p.m. Eastern, as the Sixers and Knicks held the late national window.
Opening night audience timeline
- The American Express NBA Tip-Off opened with an afternoon Celtics-Pistons game.
- Philadelphia then beat New York in the featured primetime matchup, producing a 7.71 million-viewer average.
- The night closed with Thunder-Spurs, completing the NBC/Peacock doubleheader that averaged 6.41 million viewers.
- Across social platforms, the full opening-night slate generated more than 700 million views, another league record for opening night.
The broadcast and digital totals gave the league a strong first night in its renewed NBC package, with the Knicks-Sixers window doing the heaviest lifting and the Celtics-Pistons opener adding to a three-game day of national coverage.
