What Clay Travis Twitter Says About the NBA’s Ratings Collapse
Clay Travis has made a second career out of torching the NBA’s ratings. Finals numbers? Too low. All-Star Game? A joke. Draft? No one’s watching. And he’s got the tweets — lots of tweets — to prove it.
To be fair, Clay’s not exactly quiet about anything. But when it comes to the NBA? He stays with smoke in the chamber. These 7 stats? They’re the foundation for every rant he drops about how the league is “losing America.”
Are they fair? Are they cherry-picked? Or — and here’s the spicy part — is Clay actually on to something?
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Let’s pull the receipts.
1. NBA Finals Viewership: A Mixed Bag 📉📈
Clay Travis lives for this stat. He’s all over the claim that the NBA Finals ratings are tanking. And he’s got a point — the series average in 2025 was just 10.27 million viewers, down from 11.31 million in 2024 aol.com+13en.wikipedia.org+13nypost.com+13. That’s a 7.6% drop — enough to make anyone say “Decline.”
But hold up — Game 7 changed the script. The OKC–Pacers finale pulled in 16.4 million average viewers (peaking near 19.3 million) — the most-watched Finals game in six years sports.yahoo.com+7reuters.com+7apnews.com+7. A small-market matchup, yet it beat out nearly every other series in recent history.
Fewer people are watching the NBA Finals through five games than have watched since before Bird and Magic entered the league. The league’s finals ratings — other than Covid year when they played in fall and competed with the NFL — have never been lower in live air history.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 18, 2025
True facts:
To be fair, Game 7 hit 16.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched Finals game since 2019. So Clay’s technically right on the trend — but he left out the part where OKC vs Indiana still pulled real heat when it mattered most.
Bottom line?
The series dragged early, but it finished strong. Depends how much of the game you’re watching.
2. ESPN’s Regular-Season Ratings Keep Sliding
If there’s one thing Clay Travis Twiiter account loves more than calling out the NBA Finals, it’s pointing to ESPN’s primetime regular-season ratings like they’re the league’s heart monitor.
And in 2025? Flatline.
According to Nielsen, ESPN averaged just 1.37 million viewers per national NBA game this past season — down from 1.64 million in 2023 and 1.59 million in 2024. That’s a nearly 17% decline over two years, and yes, Clay’s been counting.
“The NBA used to own Thursday nights on ESPN. Now it’s getting beaten by women’s softball and reruns of Pawn Stars.”
— Probably Clay, if he hasn’t tweeted it yet
Even the top regular-season matchup in 2025 — Celtics vs. Lakers in February — didn’t crack 2.5 million. That’s supposed to be a ratings guarantee, and it barely cleared “meh.”
To be fair, ESPN’s internal numbers say NBA social engagement and streaming are up. But Clay doesn’t care if the highlights are doing 10M on Instagram. He’s talking butts in seats — or in this case, eyeballs on screens.
Bottom line?
If regular-season games aren’t a draw, even ESPN has to start wondering how much that next media deal’s really worth.
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3. The 2025 All-Star Game Format Flopped — Hard
This year, the NBA tried something new.
Four teams. Tournament style. Race to 40. Sounds like a solid summer league idea, right?
Except this wasn’t Vegas in July.
It was the 2025 NBA All-Star Game, live from San Francisco — and the league’s bold new format crashed before tip-off.
Here’s how it went down:
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Four teams: three picked by Chuck, Shaq, and Kenny, plus one made up of Rising Stars from the Friday night event
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Two semifinal games
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Winners meet in a championship
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First to 40 points wins each round
Sounds fun, right?
LeBron James didn’t think so. He opted out the morning of with a mysterious “ankle injury.” The kind that only shows up when the format looks cooked.
And the numbers? Brutal.
The 2025 game averaged 5.2 million viewers — better than last year’s all-time low, but still losing to the NHL’s 4 Nations Tournament in the same timeslot.
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Clay Travis tweeted this mid-game:
“When your All-Star Game format is more complicated than your playoff seeding rules, maybe it’s time to admit nobody cares.”
— @ClayTravis, February 16, 2025
He’s not wrong. The event felt like a bad reality show with sneakers.
No one played defense. The Rising Stars got bodied in five minutes. And by the time Team Shaq reached 40 in the final, half the crowd had already left the building.
Bottom line?
The NBA tried to fix the All-Star Game with gimmicks. But when LeBron bails and fans tune out, Clay doesn’t even need to exaggerate — the flop speaks for itself.
4. The NBA Draft Got Outdrawn by the NFL Combine
You read that right. Not the Super Bowl. Not the NFL Draft.
The Combine.
In 2025, the NBA Draft averaged 3.2 million viewers across ABC and ESPN — down from 3.8 million in 2023 and 4.1 million back in 2021. Meanwhile, the 2025 NFL Combine? Aired live on NFL Network and drew 4.6 million viewers for its Saturday session alone.
Let that sink in:
More people watched dudes in spandex run 40-yard dashes than watched the NBA welcome its next generation of stars.
Clay Travis Twitter:
“No one knows who these players are anymore. The college guys don’t stay, the G League guys aren’t marketed, and nobody watches EuroLeague. This isn’t hard.”
— @ClayTravis, March 28, 2025
He’s not wrong about the visibility problem.
Most NBA prospects aren’t household names anymore — unless they’re Bronny or went viral on TikTok. That makes for a flat, forgettable event compared to the NFL’s hype machine.
The NFL turned the Combine into a reality show.
The NBA turned the Draft into background noise.
Bottom line?
When the NBA’s “next big thing” draws less attention than a defensive tackle’s vertical leap, Clay’s argument doesn’t need much help.
5. Regional Sports Networks Are Collapsing — And So Is Local NBA Access
Here’s something Clay Travis X account doesn’t even have to rant about anymore:
Fans literally can’t watch their team.
With Bally Sports filing bankruptcy, multiple NBA markets — including Miami, Phoenix, and Portland — spent the 2024–25 season in RSN limbo. Blackouts. Streaming black holes. Local games completely unavailable unless you paid for NBA League Pass… and even then, blackout rules still applied.
And when local fans can’t even see the games, Clay’s ready with a flamethrower:
“Counterpoint: when you make a shitty product eventually it catches up with you. Look at Star Wars. And, heck, look at ESPN Radio in what we do.”
— @ClayTravis, February 17, 2025
Counterpoint: when you make a shitty product eventually it catches up with you. Look at Star Wars. And, heck, look at ESPN Radio in what we do.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) February 17, 2025
This tweet wasn’t about the NBA, but the energy fits perfectly — fans can’t connect with a product they can’t even find on TV. Especially in smaller markets, where RSNs used to be the lifeline between fans and their team.
And it’s not just old heads watching on cable.
Even younger fans are frustrated. No in-market streaming. No consistency. Just hoops hidden behind a paywall.
Bottom line?
If you’re blacking out the product — and pricing fans out of their own local teams — don’t act surprised when the viewership drops. Clay’s just pointing out what the league refuses to admit.
6. Social Media Is Up — But Actual Viewership Is Still Down
The NBA loves to brag about its social engagement numbers.
Billion views on Instagram. Top trends on TikTok. Millions of likes, shares, emojis, and hashtags.
But here’s the stat Clay Travis X acount keeps shouting from half-court:
None of that is translating into actual TV viewership.
In 2025, the NBA claimed it generated over 22 billion video views across social media during the season — the most in league history.
Cool stat.
Meanwhile, TV ratings continue to slide. ESPN games are down. TNT numbers have dipped for three straight years. And even ABC’s marquee games didn’t crack 3 million on average.
Clay Travis X account didn’t let the league spin that one:
“Congrats on all the TikTok views. Meanwhile, nobody’s actually watching the games. The NBA is what happens when you mistake clout for audience.”
— @ClayTravis, April 10, 2025
To be clear — the league is dominating on digital.
Young fans do watch on YouTube, clips fly on Twitter/X, and NBA memes never miss.
But Clay’s point?
You can’t cash engagement likes like TV rights money. And those $25 billion media deals don’t get renewed for TikTok views.
Bottom line?
The NBA’s social media presence is elite — but if no one’s sitting through full games, the core product might still be in trouble.
7. Star Power Isn’t Saving the League Anymore
The NBA has more talent than ever. Wemby is a unicorn. SGA just won MVP and Finals MVP. Ant-Man has movie star charisma. Bronny is coming in with built-in eyeballs.
And yet?
Viewership hasn’t followed.
In the 2025 Finals, despite a Game 7 surge, the series still averaged just 10.27 million viewers — the lowest full-series average in NBA history outside the 2020 bubble. That’s with one of the youngest, most exciting matchups in recent memory (OKC vs Indiana).
Clay Travis twitter has been beating this drum for years:
“The NBA’s stars are famous, but not watchable. There’s a difference. You can go viral and still not sell tickets or bring eyeballs.”
— @ClayTravis, June 20, 2025
And you know what?
The numbers back it up. Jersey sales are up. YouTube clips are booming. But actual game viewership? Down. It’s the Kyrie Problem in disguise — players are marketable, but fans aren’t building their nights around them anymore.
Clay says the league is too political, too coastal, and out of touch with middle America — and whether you agree or not, the fact that nobody outside of OKC and Indy watched the Finals until Game 7 gives him an opening.
Bottom line?
The NBA’s brand isn’t broken. But in Clay’s eyes, it’s been repackaged, overhyped, and disconnected from what made it must-watch.
Want more on the Finals MVP Clay keeps ignoring?
Check out our OKC Top 10 and why Kevin Durant still outranks SGA — even after the ring.
