NBA finals champ Dirk Nowitzki is the most marketable man in basketball, according to Nielsen/E-Poll, with an N-Score of 132. In addition to his MVP performance in the finals, Nowitzki’s new top position on the list is thanks in part to the retirement of N-Score and endorsement heavyweight Shaquille O’Neal and the shifting fortunes of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, whose scores dropped from 131 to 26 and 117 to 34, respectively.

Nielsen’s “Year in Sports 2010″ reveals that households earning more than $100,000 are more likely to watch major sporting events like the Super Bowl, World Series or World Cup.

According to a week-long buzz study conducted by NM Incite, a Nielsen McKinsey Company, the New York Knicks, the Chicago Bulls, and the Cleveland Cavaliers have all been the most closely linked teams to King James for at least one day.

U.S. sports television had a banner year in 2009. Advances in satellite television, high-definition technology and the Internet provided fans with rich, 24/7 access to their favorite teams. Picking winners for 2010? Bet on globalization.

Findings released today from The Nielsen Company show that out-of-home-television in 2008 was consumed more often by young adults age 18-24. Marquee sporting events such as the MLB World Series, the NBA Final games, as well as NFL regular season games showed the biggest draw for out-of-home television viewers, while TV programming during M-F daytime and on the weekends were watched more out-of-the-home than TV programs in other dayparts. The findings are based on data from the Nielsen and Integrated Media Measurement Inc (IMMI) out-of-home service, …

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman doesn’t need to pick a side in tonight’s do-or-die Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. After all, history says that Bettman and the NHL have already won – at least when it comes to TV viewers.
The Nielsen Company looked back at the four Stanley Cup Finals match-ups that have gone the full seven games since 2000 and in each case, Game 7 was a ratings windfall. For example, games one through six of the 2006 finals between Edmonton and Carolina averaged 2.4 million viewers. Game …

On average, NBA playoff viewership is up 18% across TNT, ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC thanks in part to a pair of Conference final games. On May 26th, the Cavs and Magic pulled 10.1 million viewers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Championship Series on TNT – the most ever for an NBA Playoff game on cable and the most-watched cable telecast of the year. And the Lakers-Nuggets’ Game 4 of the Western Conference Championship Series delivered 9.7 million viewers - the most ever for a basketball game (college or pro) in ESPN’s history.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were the top-rated local NBA market in the first half of the season, according to an analysis released today by The Nielsen Company.
Cleveland led all NBA markets in the U.S. with an 8.1 local household rating. It’s a significant 119% jump for LeBron James and the Cavs, which ranked 9th through the first half of last season with a 3.7 rating.
The San Antonio Spurs, who boasted the NBA’s top-rated local market last season through as recently as the first month of this season, still showed an 18% year-to-year increase in its …

The NBA may not draw the highest ratings for nationally televised games, but it’s second only to the NFL in delivering their core fans to the TV sets, according to a new study from Nielsen PreView.
The study, which analyzed viewership data for some of America’s favorite sports, uncovered that while Major League Baseball and NBA pull in comparable audiences for nationally televised broadcast, when compared to the actual fan base in the United States, the NBA significantly outperformed most of its peers; NBA games were able to get 7.8% of …

Less than a month into watching the NBA season, Nielsen has spotted some noticeable trends, including several teams outscoring last year’s ratings in their local markets. While the San Antonio Spurs are still the highest-rated NBA team with a 6.8 Average Household Rating in their market, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trailblazers are close behind, thanks to large increases in viewership compared to this time period last season.
NBA Local Ratings Box Score

The New Orleans Hornets ratings are up 163% compared to a year ago, thanks in large part …