Clippers, Lakers among most-watched NBA teams by Filipinos

Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James, left, and Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard (2) chase the ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019, in Los Angeles. The Clippers won 111-106. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

MANILA, Philippines—A familiar team remained as one of the Philippines’ favorite team in the NBA, and that’s according to official data from the league’s office in the country.

As per NBA Philippines, the Los Angeles Lakers are one of the top five most-watched teams in the NBA League Pass.

The Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and Miami Heat are the five teams the Filipinos liked to watch the most as of Dec. 2019.

The Clippers, though, experienced the most uptick in viewers with a whopping 116 percent year-on-year increase in total minutes watched through December for the 2019-20 season.

This sudden surge in viewership could be attributed to the team adding MVP-caliber players Kawhi Leonard and Paul George at the start of the season.

Overall, the Philippines is the No. 3 country in the world in terms of number of subscribers and the No. 2 nation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Through Dec. 2019, NBA League Pass subscribers in the Philippines surged by 53 percent—its highest subscriber growth rate during the 2019-20 season.

The NBA’s Christmas Day schedule garnered a 71% year-on-year increase in unique audience generating an annual uptick of 130% in views and 125% in minutes watched.

Of the five games during Christmas Day, the Clippers’ win over the Lakers was the most-watched generating a 180% increase in minutes watched and approximately tripled the number of views of the previously most-watched Christmas Day game—Lakers vs. the Golden State Warriors in 2018.