THE PBA obviously hit a gold mine in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals between Barangay Ginebra and the Bay Area Dragons.
Three weeks since the Kings beat the Dragons in a deciding Game 7 to remember at the Philippine Arena, numbers which came out of China showed more than a million viewers tuned in during the entire best-of-seven title series.
A total of 1,223,632 viewers were drawn from social media platforms where the finals was shown, including Weibo and Douyin.
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Overall, the finals averaged an audience of 174,804 per game.
The figures were provided by East Asia Super League (EASL) co-founder and CEO Matt Beyer upon his return to Hong Kong.
Curiously, it’s not Game 7, but Game 4 which attracted the most number of viewers with 241,939. That game saw the Dragons buck the absence of injured import Andrew Nicholson to pull off a 94-86 upset.
The deciding match, played before a all-time record crowd of 54,589 at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, on the other hand, was watched by 150,217 viewers.
Anticipating the series would be over, Game 6 was the second most watched with 208,234. The Dragons, inserting original import Myles Powell in the active roster, took this one, 87-84, to push the finals into a winner-take-all affair.
Meanwhile, the short but very competitive semifinals between the Dragons and the San Miguel Beermen pulled a total of 337,073 viewers or an average of 84,268 per game.
Game 3 which the Beermen won, 98-96, behind the heroics of Simon Enciso and import Devon Scott was the most watched in the series with 129, 645.
Gate attendance was just as robust topped by the record crowd in Game 7.
The entire finals was watched by a total of 165,309 live audience or an average of 23,615.
The last two games prior to the winner-take-all match surpassed the 20,000 mark, with Game 5 attracting 21,823 and Game 6 with 22,361
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