The NBA All-Star match (or matches, as they were four 12-minute matches) on Sunday was considered a big success, compared to past editions, with more exciting and competitive matches as the best players of the league were put into three teams (USA Stars, USA Stripes and World), leading to very tight results (37-35, 48-45, 42-40) except for the final that ended 47-21). Still a friendly, but every team was eager to win and compete at a very high level, and fans were entertained, both those watching in Los Angeles, and those watching at home.
According to preliminary data from Nielsen, the TV broadcast attracted 8.8 million viewers, combining audiences from NBC, Peacock and Telemundo, the best audience since 2011. It is nearly twice (a 87% rise) what the All-Star made last year on ABC, 4.7 million viewers, and had a peak of 9.8 million in the USA Stripes vs. World match.
For the first time since 2002, NBC had the rights for the NBA All-Star, and it fitted perfectly into the prime-time programming, following a full day of coverage of the Winter Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina, in which USA has won 19 medals, including six golds.
