NBA All-Star Saturday Night continues to revolve around its staple events, including the 3-Point Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest, but this year’s festivities in Indianapolis had a new twist: a 3-Point Challenge between Stephen Curry and WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu.
Early indications are that viewers enjoyed the shakeup.
Curry and Ionescu faced off after Damian Lillard won the 3-Point Contest. By comparison, the pair looked every bit as good as the previous contest’s stars. Curry posted a score of 29, higher than any mark in the 3-Point Contest, while Ionescu matched the best score from the event with a 26.
While Ionescu came up just short against an iconic shooter, she proved that she belonged on that stage right next to some of the NBA’s sharpshooters.
Here’s what you need to know about how many viewers tuned into the Curry vs. Ionescu shootout.
MORE: Best, worst reactions to Stephen Curry vs. Sabrina Ionescu 3-Point Challenge
Stephen Curry vs. Sabrina Ionescu TV ratings
Despite renewed criticism of the Slam Dunk Contest, TNT reported improved All-Star Saturday Night ratings compared to last year’s festivities. Why? The contest between Curry and Ionescu appears to have been a major factor.
Viewership peaked during their shootout, according to TNT, with 5.4 million viewers watching between 10 and 10:15 p.m. ET. Overall, the events averaged 4.6 million viewers — an increase of 31 percent from 2023.
TNT reported 10 million unique viewers on Saturday night, up 54 percent from 2023. It was the most-watched All-Star Saturday Night since 2020.
TNT Sports netted 🔥 strong 🔥 audience growth for #StateFarmSaturday across its networks and platforms. 🏀
📺 A special two-hour “NBA All-Star Tip-Off presented by CarMax” pregame begins at 6 p.m. ET tonight across @NBAonTNT, @TBSNetwork, @truTV and @StreamOnMax. pic.twitter.com/EIVq1LJU9z
— TNT Sports U.S. PR (@TNTSportsUS) February 18, 2024
It’s especially notable that viewership peaked during Curry and Ionescu’s 3-Point Challenge, as the league’s 3-Point Contest featured plenty of high-profile names including Lillard, Donovan Mitchell and Trae Young. Ionescu not only proved that she can hang with the best, but she proved that NBA-WNBA crossover events can generate serious interest.
MORE: NBA Twitter rips Kenny Smith for comment during Curry vs. Ionescu shootout
Curry is quite a draw himself, of course. The two-time MVP hadn’t participated in the 3-Point Contest since 2021 when he won the event for the second time, so it’s no surprise fans were also tuning in to see if he could dominate from beyond the arc as he does regularly for the Warriors.
Respect between two of the best shooters in the world.
Stephen vs. Sabrina 3-PT Challenge #StateFarmSaturday on TNT pic.twitter.com/oLx7gEhXSY
— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2024
As the NBA continues to refine All-Star Weekend to attract viewers, could the Curry vs. Ionescu showdown pave a path for an expanded shootout involving WNBA players? Not everyone can shoot like Ionescu — she had the second-highest 3-point percentage among WNBA players with at least 100 attempts in 2023 — but the Liberty star has likely opened the door for others to try.
