Like MLB, College Basketball Is Also Now More Popular Than The NBA

While the rest of the sports world is slowly coming around to the idea that MLB is more popular than the NBA, there could soon be a similar conversation about how college basketball compares to the pros.

The 2026 NCAA Tournament is averaging 10.3 million viewers through the Elite Eight, marking the most-watched tournament since 1993. Notably, UConn’s upset of Duke peaked at 18.9 million viewers on CBS.

For context, the NCAA Tournament is averaging slightly more viewers than the NBA Finals did this past year, 10.3 million to 10.2 million. Moreover, the Finals between the Thunder and Pacers averaged only 9.18 million viewers through six games before Game 7. The NCAA Tournament is likely to see its average increase during the Final Four and national championship this weekend.

For all the hype around the NBA, there is now a valid argument that it is the fifth-most-popular sports property in America, behind the NFL, college football, MLB, and, now, college basketball.

So much for predictions from the likes of Jalen Rose that the NBA would surpass the NFL by 2030. As of today, the NBA is closer in popularity to the NHL than to the NFL.

Bill Simmons and NBA fans will surely take offense to that statement. They always do. However, it is difficult to dispute the NBA’s current standing.

College football and the NFL are significantly more popular than the NBA. MLB tops the NBA in key metrics, including local viewership, attendance, and World Series vs. Finals viewership. The NCAA Tournament is more popular than the NBA Playoffs and now even the Finals.

The NBA is a niche sport, propped up by social media and sports media coverage. The league struggles to appeal to smaller and mid-sized markets in America. And despite the wishes of NBA media, those markets matter. 

The league is often seen as overly political and elitist. Stories like the Chicago Bulls cutting Jaden Ivey for refusing to support Pride Month on religious grounds will not help that perception.

((Geoff Burke/Imagn Images))

Further, the NBA's on-court product is poor. Star players routinely sit out games for load management and take stretches off within games. The heavy reliance on three-point shooting and foul drawing has reduced the aesthetic appeal for some viewers.

The NBA also has a star problem.

The league remains heavily reliant on 41-year-old LeBron James, who is reportedly one year away from retirement. MLB and college basketball, both of which have struggled at times to promote individual stars, have done a better job recently highlighting players like Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Cooper Flagg last year, and Cameron Boozer.

As Fox Sports Radio host Colin Cowherd explained last year, the NBA is learning the consequences of scoffing at the interests of ordinary, working-class Americans.

"The NBA ratings are down 48 percent in the last 12 years and they have fallen off a cliff this year," Cowherd said. "Adam Silver's solution is to make the courts brighter. It is a really bad look for a family of four to go to a game and the stars do not play."

"Go ask the Democrats," he continued. "Be warned, once you detach from regular people in America, you will pay a price."

The NBA has paid a price, and MLB and college basketball have capitalized on the league's decline.