NBA Finals ratings were poor once again, and politics likely played a role

Many supporters of the NBA cautioned against reading too much into the abysmal 2020 NBA Finals ratings because the season was so irregular. Now, we have the ratings for the recently concluded 2021 NBA Finals, and they are still very poor.

The 2021 NBA Finals averaged 9.91 million viewers, a 32% increase from the record low 2020 series that took place in the Orlando bubble. The 2020 season was interrupted by the pandemic, and its return in the bubble was marred by an embrace of progressive politics. The 2020-2021 season was a return to a more normal schedule, shortened by only 10 games and started in mid-December as opposed to the usual mid-October tipoff.