The National Basketball Association (NBA) 2024-25 season was sponsored by 68 brands, and these partnerships also included the 2025 NBA Finals, which marked the championship series of the season and the culmination of its playoffs. Some of the NBA’s sponsorship deals include 2K Sports, Nike, Google and Pepsi. Overall, 2024-25 NBA generated an estimated sponsorship revenue of $1.15 billion, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’ s latest report, “Post Event Analysis – NBA Finals 2025”, reveals that the 2025 NBA Finals attracted an average of 10.2 million viewers, ranking among the lowest in recent history. All seven matches of the 2025 NBA Finals saw sellout crowds.

Olivia Snooks, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Google’s partnership with the NBA is worth noting as not only is Google’s Pixel phone the presenting sponsor of the post-season NBA playoffs and the NBA’s official fan phone but also YouTube TV is the presenting partner of the NBA Finals.”

The 2025 NBA Finals, broadcast by ABC for the 23rd consecutive year, experienced a decline in viewership for its opening game on 5^th June. With a total audience of 8.19 million and a TV rating of 4.7 in US households, this game became the third-least watched NBA Finals Game 1 since 1988. The only years with lower-rated openers were 2020 and 2021, both of which were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and saw their schedules delayed.

Snooks continues: “There is certainly a generational shift from traditional TV viewership to digital streaming; TV ratings no longer fully encapsulate the comprehensive scope of a sport’s influence or significance. The NBA amassed over five billion views globally across various social media platforms during the NBA Finals. This represents a substantial increase of 215% when compared to the viewership figures from 2024.”

The NBA continues to lead US professional sports in salary figures, with its players earning the highest wages on average. This trend extends into the postseason, with the playoff prize pool for 2025 set at $34,666,000. The Oklahoma City Thunder secured the top position amongst the 30 teams in the Western Conference, contributing $869,000 to their prize earnings. Additionally, the team earned $761,000 for setting various records during the season. Their journey to the finals increased their prize total by $1.99 million. Culminating in their victory as the 2025 NBA Champions, the Thunder were awarded an additional $8.8 million.

Snooks concludes: “In total, the Oklahoma City Thunder amassed $12.42 million in prize money for the season, which, when distributed among the 15-man regular roster would mean an additional $828,000 per individual. In comparison to runners-up, Indiana Pacers, amassed a total of $5.79 million in prize money.”