The NBA season tips off next week with the New York Knicks as defending champions for the first time since 1973.
The Knicks/Spurs NBA Finals was the most-watched playoff series since 1998 (Michael Jordan’s last year with the Bulls). New York’s win was followed by a Manhattan parade with more than 2 million attendees and public appearances by players throughout the summer, including Jalen Brunson hosting Saturday Night Live’s season premiere last month. Success on the court has generated considerable publicity, but what is the impact on the team’s fan base?
Sports Poll™ has been tracking favorite NBA teams since 1994.
The average NBA champion increased their fan base by 3.4 million following their title. The Knicks added 6.3 million fans (Americans naming them as their favorite NBA team) since the end of the regular season. Over the last 30+ seasons, only two teams saw larger gains. The Miami Heat grew by 8.4 million after their 2012-13 title (with LeBron James), and the Chicago Bulls grew by 13.9 million after their 1995-96 title (with Michael Jordan).
Will the Knicks be able to maintain that momentum?
Recent trends suggest that the honeymoon should last into this upcoming season, regardless of the team’s performance. There hasn’t been a back-to-back NBA champion since the Golden State Warriors in 2017-18, but Sports Poll™ data shows that these “one-and-done” champions retained 97% of their fan base from the post-championship peak into the next season. We’ll be watching to see how the Knicks’ fan base changes with the upcoming season and if stronger support for the team translates to broader interest in the NBA.
If you’d like more details on how this breaks out by demographics or insights into teams from other sports, reach out to us.
Sports Poll by SSRS™ is conducted continuously throughout the year and includes a nationally representative sample of more than 24,000 Americans each year.
