The NBA playoffs collided with WWE on Friday, sending SmackDown to its lowest 18-49 audience of the year.
The May 2 edition of SmackDown averaged 1,406,000 viewers and 496,000 viewers (0.37) in the 18-49 demographic on the USA Network.
Despite a 12% drop in viewership and a 27% fall in the core demo, SmackDown still ranked third among all prime time programming on Friday in the 18-49 demographic behind the NBA.
The 18-49 audience included a 32% drop among males and a 21% decline among females from the previous week. Dave Meltzer added that the audience of 18-34 fell from 0.44 to 0.23 this week, suggesting the NBA game had a major impact on younger viewers of SmackDown.
It was SmackDown’s lowest audience since March 28 and its smallest audience in the core demo since November 15, 2024, when it aired against the undercard of the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing fight on Netflix.
The NBA playoffs were the prime culprit with the Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors averaging 4,612,000 viewers and a 1.40 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The nine-minute NBA Courtside pre-game also ranked above SmackDown with a 0.54 on ESPN.
SmackDown outranked the Winnipeg Jets vs. St. Louis Blues game on TNT, which did 644,000 viewers and 0.20 in the demo.
SmackDown included a main event with Tiffany Stratton & Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax & Naomi, a promo by Randy Orton, and LA Knight vs. Damian Priest.
This week’s episode will include an appearance by John Cena on the night before Backlash, and airs against two NBA playoff games with the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. the Denver Nuggets.
Data: Wrestlenomics & Programming Insider
