Thunder title resonates with audiences and prize money

Despite negative forecasts regarding viewership for the 2025 NBA Finals , featuring two low-profile teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers , the numbers reflected the opposite.

According to Sports Media Watch figures, endorsed by the NBA itself, Game 7 between the Thunder and Pacers was the most-watched Finals game since 2019. The Oklahoma City Thunder won the championship 103-91 at the Paycom Center.

“Sunday’s Game 7 between the Pacers and Thunder averaged 16.35 million viewers across ABC and ESPN, according to Nielsen Fast-Nationals, easily making it the most-watched NBA Finals game since the 2019 Game 6 between the Raptors and Warriors, with 18.59 million viewers,” the Sports Media Watch release said.

He added that “no NBA game in recent years had even reached the 14 million mark, with Game 6 between the Warriors and Celtics in the 2022 Finals coming closest at 13.99 million.”

The peak U.S. broadcast for Game 7 between the Thunder and Pacers reached 19.28 million viewers, though that figure is an average of the more than two hours of play in Oklahoma.

In other data, the NBA shared that the entire 2025 postseason averaged 6.12 million viewers per game, a 10% increase compared to 2024, which saw the Boston Celtics defeat the Dallas Mavericks.

Also in that year-over-year comparison, the NBA celebrated a 215% increase in content views across all official social media platforms during the Finals, which ran from June 5-22, reaching 5 billion views.

Meanwhile, Game 7 between the Pacers and Thunder ranked fourth in viewership among non-football sporting events over the past 12 months, behind Game 5 of the 2024 World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees (18.15 million), the men's college basketball national championship game (NCAA) between Florida and Houston (18.14 million) and the Kentucky Derby (16.7 million according to Nielsen).

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers were making history this Sunday, as neither had ever won the NBA Finals title in their entire history.

While the Thunder were awarded the 1979 title, it was under the name of their previous franchise, the Seattle Supersonics, but since their move to Oklahoma in 2008, this is their greatest achievement.

The Indiana Pacers, on the other hand, will continue their search for their first NBA Finals title, following their losses in the 1999-2000 season to the Los Angeles Lakers and in this 2024-2025 season to the Oklahoma City Thunder with a dramatic finish.

Cash prize

On the other hand, the 2025 title represented a cash prize of $12.4 million for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

According to figures from Marca and AS, the NBA playoff bonus pool reached a record $34.7 million this season, the largest amount for the Thunder not only because of the championship, but also because they were the top seed throughout the regular season.

That represents an estimated $828,000 in prize money for each player on the championship team.

According to these sources, this represents the largest prize money ever for a player on a championship team in any of the major U.S. sports leagues, surpassing $357,000 in the NFL and $477,000 in the MLB.

Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also received the 2025 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. He became the first basketball player since LeBron James in 2013 to win the award in the same season as the regular season MVP.

However, there is no public parameter available regarding the potential prize money for an NBA Finals MVP.