How many viewers watched the 2024 NBA All-Star Saturday? Exploring viewership and more

NBA All-Star Saturday night is one of the biggest evenings of the year. An array of the league's top talents compete in a series of different events. Based on recent reporting, this year's showcase was a big hit among the television audience.

In total, NBA All-Star Saturday night totaled 4.6 million viewers across the TNT and TruTV broadcasts. This was a 31% increase from last year, which only totaled 3.42 million. The highest rated All-Star Saturday night in recent years came back in 2020, when over five million viewers tuned in.

Kicking off the festivites was the skills challenge. It featured three teams, one of All-Stars, one of former No. 1 picks and one of all players from the Indiana Pacers. Led by Tyrese Haliburton, the hometown squad took home the trophy in a half-court shot tiebreaker.

After the skills challenge came the traditional three-point contest. Recent winners Karl-Anthony Towns and Damian Lillard battled it out, with the Milwaukee Bucks star taking home the tophy for a second straight year.

Rounding out the evening's festivities was the Slam Dunk contest. After winning the event last year, Mac MacClung managed secure another trophy.

First-time event was highest-watched segment of NBA All-Star Saturday night

While NBA All-Star Saturday night totaled 4.6 million viewers, there was one stretch that had just under six million viewers. This peak came during an event that has never been done before.

After breaking the three-point contest record last year, WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu faced off against one of the greatest shooters ever. Following the three-point contest, she had a one-on-one shootout with Steph Curry.

Ionescu used WNBA balls, but shot from the NBA three-point line. She went first and put pressure on the Golden State Warriors star. Ionescu finished with a score of 26, matching Damian Lillard's score in the final round of the three-point contest.

It came down to the last rack, but Curry managed to take home the crown in this rare event.

While critics continue to pick apart the All-Star game itself, there seems to be no issue with Saturday night. The dunk contest had it critiques, but overall the festivities were a big hit.

Seeing how the audience responded to the Steph vs Sabrina challenge, it will be interesting if events like this will continue moving forward. If it does, college basketball star Caitlin Clark will surely be a name to emerge once she enters the professional ranks.