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Viewership for the first four games of the NBA Finals featuring the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs doubled the viewership of the previous year's finals.
The viewership for the NBA Finals was the highest it has been since 1998.
The New York City Economic Development Corporation estimated the economic impact of the NBA Finals on the New York City economy to be upwards of half a billion dollars.
Game 5 of the NBA Finals attracted 24.5 million viewers, with the audience surging to 33 million as the New York Knicks were about to win.
The NBA's 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon, and Comcast is expected to generate $76 billion in fees for the league.
The 2026 NBA Finals set a new league record for merchandise sales, doubling the previous record from 2020.
The New York Knicks set an all-time merchandise sales record on Fanatics for any championship team in any sport within the 24 hours following their victory.
The NBA's Board of Governors is actively exploring adding expansion franchises in Seattle and Las Vegas.
According to Sportico, the New York Knicks were valued at $9.8 billion before the Eastern Conference Finals.
James Dolan is reportedly considering spinning off the New York Knicks from MSG Sports into its own publicly traded entity.
Ticket prices for New York Knicks games during the NBA Finals reached $10,000 for nosebleed seats and six-figure amounts for courtside seats.
According to Sportico, NBA teams that made the playoffs will receive a total of approximately $36 million in bonuses.