Just how valuable is it for a playoff series to go the distance?

Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

If the 2025 World Series had ended in five games, the series would have averaged 12.78 million viewers. That is not a bad viewership number by any means, but it pales in comparison to the eventual do-or-die Game 7, which drew 26.88 million.

That, in a nutshell, is the value of a deep series. And it’s why, more than anything, networks root for more games over any specific team.

Awful Announcing analyzed World Series, NBA Finals, and Stanley Cup Final viewership from the last 10 years, in addition to complete playoff viewership for all four leagues from the last four years, and has found that “going the distance” can dramatically increase the value of an entire playoff series.

It is an old adage among executives that networks “budget for five games.” Under this theory, if a playoff series goes more than five games, the networks make money off the series; if a series goes fewer than five games, then the networks lose money. But what does that mean in practice?

Across all three leagues’ championships, Game 5 provides a significant boost compared to the average for the first four games. The jump is 21% for MLB, 14% for the NBA, and 29% for the NHL.

As a series gets deeper, more viewers tune in, which allows networks to charge more for advertising. Through five games in their championships over the last 10 years, MLB averages 13.17 million viewers, the NBA 13.98 million and the NHL 3.71 million. Viewership for Game 6 jumps 30% on average from the Games 1-5 average in MLB, 18% in the NBA and 39% in the NHL. Unsurprisingly, the jump from the five-game average is even more dramatic in the case of a Game 7: 98% for MLB, 75% for the NBA, and 109% for the NHL.

Just comparing these numbers, however, obscures how different these leagues are. The NBA’s do-or-die games draw dramatically larger audiences than comparable MLB and NHL games. Game 7 of the NBA Conference Finals averages 13.95 million, which is more similar to Game 1 of the World Series (12.97 million) than Game 7 of the LCS (8.23 million). The most-watched Stanley Cup Playoff game in the last four years was 7.66 million in 2024, and no NHL Conference Final game went to a Game 7.

Those numbers, however, don’t tell the entire story without understanding what networks are making from advertising. According to Sportico , the cost for a commercial in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals was $800,000 per 30-second spot. That would result in about $60 million in revenue per game, though you can bet that a Game 6 or 7 would command even higher rates.

According to Marketplace , a spot in the World Series costs slightly less, between $350,000 and $600,000 for 30 seconds. According to Sportico , for the seven-game Toronto Blue Jays-Los Angeles Dodgers series in 2025, Fox likely made about $50 million per game.

A recent exact number for the NHL was unavailable, but in 2019, NBC was asking more than $200,000 for 30 seconds for Game 7 in that year’s Boston Bruins-St. Louis Blues series.

Viewership for deciding games increases more dramatically than ad rates, but the increases in ad rates are still significant. During the 2024 World Series, Fox was charging about $493,000 for the first five games of the series, according to Sportico , which would have risen about 27% to $625,000 for Game 7. A similar increase for the NBA in 2026 would have seen the rate rise to over $1 million per ad in a Game 7.

It is also worth mentioning that the championship series are not the only rounds where networks are making money from games after Game 5. A similar principle is at play in earlier rounds.

In the last four years of the MLB Championship Series, viewership for Games 6 and 7 (6.51 million, on average) is an increase of 34% from the average of the first five games (4.84 million). This is even more substantial in the NBA, where viewership of the Conference Finals jumps 62% for Games 6 and 7. In the NHL, the jump is 24%.

This analysis can be extrapolated to earlier-round series as well. While not as dramatic, elongated series provide viewership boosts no matter their round. Increases of 44% and 20% in the first and second rounds of the NBA playoffs, respectively, and 69% and 34% in the NHL.

If you are curious why the first round for the NHL is such a dramatic increase, it is likely because the first few games of an NHL early-round series often have overlapping windows, with four games going on in a given weekday. That naturally depresses early-round viewership, especially compared to the NBA, which very rarely has more than three games in a given weekday.

MLB is slightly harder to compare, as the Division Series is best-of-five and the Wild Card Series is best-of-three. In the Wild Card Series, Game 3 increases 62% compared to the average of Games 1 and 2, while in the Division Series, Game 5 increases 77% compared to the average of Games 1 through 3.

Sure, it’s common knowledge that deciding games would see increased viewership. But these games are hugely significant to the leagues and networks. These are not 1% or even 10% increases for these extra games, but more like 20% to 50%, depending on the round.

So no matter the team, no matter the round, no matter the market, no matter the league, TV and league executives are hoping that a playoff series goes long so they can see the dough roll in.

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Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: Yahoo Sports. Open at source →