One Down, Six To Go? ESPN/ABC Sells Out Magic-Lakers Game One

By John Lombardo, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

The NBA Finals tip off tomorrow night with all 60 advertising units sold out for Game One on ABC as the host Lakers take on the Magic. "And we are in the single digits remaining for the rest of the games through Game Four," said ESPN/ABC Sports Customer Marketing & Sales President Ed Erhardt. "Sales are pacing about the same as last year in overall demands and there is a good buzz around the NBA." Erhardt refused to disclose the value of the units but also added that GM will continue its Finals media buy. Last year's six-game Celtics-Lakers Finals generated a 9.3 average rating on ABC, up 50% over the 6.2 average generated in '07 by the Spurs' four-game sweep of the Cavaliers. Total viewership during last year's Finals averaged 14.9 million households.

MEDIA CREDENTIALS DOWN SLIGHTLY: The NBA reports that prior to Game One, the league has credentialed over 1,800 media members. Last year the credential count was about 1,850 and NBA Senior VP/Basketball Communications Brian McIntyre said that there is a good chance the league this year will exceed last year's number. McIntyre said credentials are "down in North American newspapers, not unexpected given the state of the industry and the economy, but we are up in digital and expect to be up in international when we finish processing."