From left, Warriors Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
NBA Finals Streaming Up 21% From 2017
June 4, 2018
The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers may be meeting in the NBA Finals for the fourth consecutive year, but streaming video interest in the matchup is stronger than ever.
New data from video measurement firm Conviva found a 30.3% increase Game 2 (June 3) streaming in the Bay Area and 119% increase in Cleveland compared with Game 2 in 2017.
Golden State won the contest 122-103 in Oakland, Calif., to take a two-game lead in the best-of-seven series that continues June 6 in Cleveland. The Warriors hold the identical won/loss advantage over the Cavaliers going into Game 3 as they did last year.
Overall, Game 2 only saw a 2.14% increase in video streams compared to Game 2 2017. Combining Game 1 and Game 2 2018, streaming saw a 21.42% increase over the first two games in 2017.
Peak concurrent streaming — the number of concurrent streams at the exact same moment — was up 36.2% for Game 2 this year compared with Game 2 in 2017.
Notably, Game 2 was viewed on 12.43% fewer unique devices than Game 2 of 2017.
The 2018 NBA Finals are available to stream on Sling TV, YouTube TV, PlayStation Vue and DirecTV Now, in addition to the Watch ESPN app.