NBA Finals earn big TV ratings in San Antonio — even with no Spurs

There was a lot of chatter on the local sports radio talk shows wondering about how much interest there was in San Antonio without the Spurs and with Miami and Dallas playing in the NBA Finals.

The viewers in San Antonio answered with the best ratings in any metered market outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area or South Florida.

San Antonio’s market ranked fourth (15.9), trailing only behind Miami-Fort Lauderdale (33.7), Dallas-Fort Worth (30.7) and West Palm Beach, Fla. (17.7), .

Here’s are the markets where the NBA earned its top television rankings for the Finals.

1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale  (33.7)

2. Dallas-Fort Worth (30.7)

3. West Palm Beach, Fla. (17.7)

4. San Antonio (15.9)

5. Cleveland (15.8)

6. New Orleans (15.1)

7. Memphis (14.5)

7. Houston (14.5)

9. Oklahoma City (14.4)

10. Chicago (13.7)

And the lowest metered market in the nation was Pittsburgh (5.1) — Mark Cuban’s hometown.  

It’s interesting that the Spurs beat even Cleveland, where interest was high as Heat fans rooted against LeBron James and the Heat.

Many San Antonio fans were rooting against the Mavericks at the start of the series. But by the end of the Mavericks’ dramatic title victory, I bet the Texas team had picked up some fans even among disgruntled Spurs fans.

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