The cadence to this year’s NBA Finals will feel a bit different.
On Tuesday, the league announced that the NBA Finals will begin on Wednesday, June 3, and run until Friday, June 19 should the series go seven games. It’s a notable shift from the league’s typical Thursday start and Sunday finish, and is almost certainly a response to this summer’s World Cup hosted in North America.
For the first time since 1970, not a single NBA Finals game will be scheduled for a Sunday, typically the most-watched television viewing day of the week. It will be the first time since 1999 that not a single Finals game will be played on a Sunday. This year’s Finals will follow a Wednesday, Friday, Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Friday schedule, providing for only one travel day between Games 1 and 2, rather than the standard two days the league has incorporated since 2016.
The NBA today announced the schedule for the NBA Finals 2026 presented by YouTube TV.
The best-of-seven series tips off Wednesday, June 3. Game 7 is scheduled for Friday, June 19, if necessary.
All games are 8:30 PM ET on ABC.
Complete schedule ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/OnhTOq35wT
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 20, 2026
In shifting the schedule, the NBA is avoiding a conflict with the United States’ opening match of the World Cup against Paraguay, which is scheduled for Friday, June 12 at 9 p.m. ET. Under the normal NBA Finals schedule, the league would’ve played Game 4 on that night.
Interestingly, should this year’s Finals go to a Game 7, the United States will play a World Cup game against Australia on the same day. However, that World Cup game is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET, while the NBA Finals game would be played in its standard primetime window, meaning there won’t be any conflict.
Overall, it’s likely a wise decision for the NBA to avoid windows in which the United States will be playing in a home World Cup. USMNT matches during the World Cup generate eight-figure audiences, even in unfavorable television windows. Given this year’s matches will be played at home and in normal viewing hours for the American audience, it’s safe to say the USMNT will draw far more viewers than normal.
It’s the first time since 2014 in which the NBA Finals has had to compete with the quadrennial soccer tournament at all, given the 2022 edition was moved to the winter on account of Qatar’s sweltering summer weather, and 2018 was played in Russia, where the time difference did not impact the NBA.
The World Cup will provide much stiffer competition for the NBA than normal should the series reach Games 5, 6, and 7, all of which would be played on World Cup match days. In a typical year, the NBA Finals dominate the sporting conscious. The NHL’s Stanley Cup Final purposefully avoids playing on the same nights as the NBA. Other leagues like MLB are in the dog days of the regular season. This year, the three most important games of the NBA season could face direct competition from soccer’s biggest event.
While it will be an embarrassment of riches for sports fans, it’s safe to say the NBA would rather have those nights to itself.