NHL regular season posts strong viewership gains
THE THIRD SEASON OF THE NHL’s media rights deal with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery produced the league’s best regular-season audience on U.S. national airwaves since 2015-16. Games averaged 504,000 viewers per game, up 8% from 465,000 last season (which was down only slightly from Year 1 of the deal).
The league also had its best season on cable (ESPN and TNT) in 30 years (and up 8% from last season). ESPN was a key driver, seeing a 25% uptick for games (to 486,000 viewers this season). Combined with ABC, Disney networks averaged 666,000 viewers, up 13% from 2022-23. TNT again held steady with its viewership, averaging 362,000 for games (which again had a number of local blackout restrictions). Separately, in Canada, games averaged 1.3 million this season for Rogers Sportsnet, up 7%.
The most-watched game of the season was Rangers-Islanders in the Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium in February. That averaged 1.6 million viewers on ABC.
With all the hype around No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard, his debut with the Blackhawks against the Penguins in October was No. 2 overall with 1.4 million on ESPN (that was ESPN’s lone game in the top 10).
The New Year’s Day Winter Classic on TNT/truTV dropped to No. 6 this season, as Golden KnightsKraken was the lowest audience yet for that event (it will move to New Year’s Eve next season).
Locally/regionally, NHL games in the U.S. were flat this season. On a rebranded Monumental Sports Network, Capitals games were down 37%, but with a caveat. Sources told SBJ a coding issue discovered in the middle of the season may have had a significant impact on the audience (perhaps affecting as much as 25% of the team’s viewership base through Verizon Fios). That may have in turn affected numbers from 20%-50% for certain games.
The Lightning, just two years removed from winning the Stanley Cup, this season were down 27% on Bally Sports Florida. Coming off a historic season in 2022-23, the Bruins saw a 19% drop in audience on NESN. The Wild also lost audience to a surging Timberwolves team in the Twin Cities, down 14% on Bally Sports North. Strong competition in the New York market also affected the Devils, who were down 12%.
Among the local winners this season were the Blackhawks, who had incredible buzz after drafting Bedard. Even with an injury sidelining Bedard for a key part of the season, games on NBC Sports Chicago jumped 35%. The Red Wings saw a 32% jump on Bally Sports Detroit, while the Flyers were up 30% on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Helping balance numbers were strong performances in the nation’s biggest media market. The Rangers’ strong season led to a 17% gain on MSG, while the Islanders jumped 16%.