For the NBA, Christmas Day in 2025 was a resounding success — at least in terms of viewership.
Across the five-game slate on the Disney networks, 47.19 million unique viewers tuned in, making it the most-watched Christmas Day since 2010 and representing a 45% year-over-year increase. These data exclude 2011, when a lockout prompted the start of the regular season to fall on Dec. 25.
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Interestingly, Christmas Day viewership may also be hinting at a general changing of the guard. The first two games of the slate — Knicks vs. Cavaliers and Thunder vs. Spurs — were the ones with the highest viewership.
Knicks-Cavs averaged 6.37 million viewers, making it the most-watched 12 p.m. ET Christmas game in history. Thunder-Spurs averaged 6.71 million, making that the most-viewed second game since 2017.
The league made an impact on social media, as well. According to Videocities, the NBA generated more than 1.6 billion views across social platforms, making it the sports brand with most views on Christmas.
This is notable, given that the NFL has also laid claim to the holiday, broadcasting Christmas games over the past two years. NFL remains king in broadcast viewership, but this year’s games proved to be significantly inconsequential, with injuries marring the matchups, which mostly featured teams already eliminated or in danger of elimination from playoff contention.
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The Knicks-Cavaliers game featured a late flurry from New York, which rallied back from a 17-point fourth quarter deficit to beat Cleveland, 126-124.
Dec. 25: The San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama dunks against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center.
The Thunder-Spurs game featured the latest iteration of an emerging rivalry in the NBA, one that features a pair of the game’s most dynamic young stars in Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama and reigning NBA MVP, Shai Gilegous-Alexander.
The other games on the 2025 Christmas slate were Warriors-Mavericks, Lakers-Rockets and Nuggets-Timberwolves.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA on Christmas Day TV ratings up as NFL invasion continues