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NBA nets highest opening night TV audience in 5 years with 3.3 million viewers

The Warriors-Lakers game averaged 3.55 million viewers.

The NBA had an average audience of 3.3 million viewers for its opening night to record the highest TV audience in five years, with a 17 percent increase on the 2021/22 season, according to Sports Media Watch.

The league tipped off its 2022/23 campaign with a doubleheader on Warner Bros Discovery-owned cable network TNT featuring the Boston Celtics beating the Philadelphia 76ers, and the defending champions Golden State Warriors prevailing over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Celtics-76ers opener was watched by 2.98 million, up 36 percent from last season’s opening game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets.

It was also the second-most watched early game on opening night in the previous five seasons, trailing only the 5.6 million viewers who watched the Celtics and Cavaliers' 2017 season opener.

Meanwhile, the Warriors-Lakers game averaged 3.55 million viewers, an increase of 4 percent from the comparable game in 2016. The league's opening night crowd was also the biggest in the previous three years.

The NBA also revealed that the 148 million views on its official social media outlets and the NBA App were a record high for an opening night. Additionally, this represented a 200% increase over the figures calculated for 2021.

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