The final viewership numbers for ESPN’s 10-part docuseries The Last Dance are finally in and the sports broadcasting giant has announced that its latest film project has cemented itself in a league of its own at the top.
Variety Magazine reported on Monday (May 18) that ESPN said that Michael Jordan’s much-anticipated film project about his championship-winning 1998 Chicago Bulls squad is the network’s most-watched sports documentary in history.
Originally slated for a June 2020 release, ESPN moved its debut of The Last Dance to late April in response to high-demand from fans who were in mass quarantine with no live NBA games to watch.
An average of 5.6 million fans watched The Last Dance from its April 19 series debut all the way until its May 17 series finale.
“The first two episodes of ‘The Last Dance’ marked the two most-viewed original content broadcasts on ESPN’s networks since 2004, surpassing the 2012 film ‘You Don’t Know Bo,’ which captured an average viewership of 3.6 million,'” wrote Variety columnist Will Thorne.