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'The Last Dance' debut episodes averaged more than 6M viewers

From left, Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Ron Harper and Toni Kukoc were big parts of Bulls teams that won three straight NBA titles from 1996 to 1998. TNS/Sipa USA

Report: 'The Last Dance' debut episodes averaged more than 6 million viewers

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 4/20/20

The highly anticipated debut of the ESPN documentary "The Last Dance" about the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls team that completed the franchise's second championship three-peat of the decade blew away the network's previous record for a "30 for 30" premiere.

On Monday afternoon, John Ourand of Sports Business Journal tweeted that the first of two episodes that aired across ESPN and ESPN2 on Sunday night averaged more than 6 million viewers.

"The Last Dance" numbers blew away even the most optimistic projections. Episode 1 averaged 6.3 million viewers and Episode 2 averaged 5.8 million viewers across ESPN & ESPN2.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) April 20, 2020

According to SBJ's Austin Karp, "The Last Dance" nearly doubled the previous record for any "30 for 30" debut that aired on ESPN or ABC:

Top 5 ESPN documentaries:

1) "Last Dance" Part 1: 6.3 million
2) "Last Dance" Part 2: 5.8 million
3) "You Don't Know Bo" 3.6 million
4) "OJ: Made In America" Part 1: 3.4 million (on ABC)
5) "Fab Five": 2.7 million https://t.co/cQUYpFgcfV
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) April 20, 2020

ESPN's previous high for an @NBA-focused documentary was 2.051 million viewers for "Winning Time" in March 2010 (@ReggieMillerTNT vs. @nyknicks). After that is "The Announcement" (focused on @MagicJohnson), which averaged 2.047 million in March 2012
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) April 20, 2020

"The Last Dance" was originally scheduled to hit airwaves in June, but ESPN announced in late March that the network had moved the docuseries up to April 19 after the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the professional sports world:

"As society navigates this time without live sports, viewers are still looking to the sports world to escape and enjoy a collective experience," ESPN said in a statement. "We've heard the calls from fans asking us to move up the release date for this series, and we're happy to announce that we've been able to accelerate the production schedule to do just that. This project celebrates one of the greatest players and dynasties ever, and we hope it can serve as a unifying entertainment experience to fill the role that sports often play in our lives, telling a story that will captivate everyone, not just sports fans."

Last week, Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing speculated that "The Last Dance" debut would be watched by over 3.6 million viewers because sports fans are craving new and original content during the virus outbreak.

ESPN and ESPN2 will air episodes three and four of "The Last Dance" on Sunday, April 26, beginning at 9 p.m. ET. Two new episodes will be released each subsequent Sunday evening through May 17.

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