It's no secret that the NBA has had an All-Star Game problem among both players and fans for some time now. But with the debut of a revamped, USA vs. World format in 2026, it sounds like the league may have found its solution.
Viewership for Sunday's redesigned All-Star Game peaked at nearly 10 million viewers and averaged 8.8 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and Telemundo, the league reported Monday, citing preliminary Nielsen data. It was the largest All-Star audience since 2011.
Even more encouraging, such numbers bested last year's contest by a whopping 87 percent; just 4.7 million viewers tuned in in 2025, which happened to be the second-lowest viewership total in history, per Front Office Sports.
Unlike past years, the 2026 competition featured a round robin-style tournament with one team of international all-stars and two teams of U.S. players. The tournament's first round was composed of three 12-minute games, after which the two teams with the best records advanced to the championship game. It was there that Team Stars handily defeated Team Stripes after Team World failed to make it in, despite Victor Wembanyama's best efforts.
In line with the viewership data, early anecdotal evidence suggests players were decently happy with the new format, too.
“I think they ain't really going to take in what I'm saying, but I like this format,” said All-Star MVP Anthony Edwards, for example. “I think it makes us compete because it's only 12 minutes, and the three different teams separate the guys. I think it was really good.”
Last season's changes clearly did not work for anyone, but this year's redesign, plus the increased effort from players, might just be the recipe for success moving forward. Did you hear that? It's Adam Silver taking a big sigh of relief.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The NBA's Revamped All-Star Game Was a Ratings Hit.
