As expected, U.S. ratings for the Stanley Cup Finals are not off to a hot start, despite a thrilling overtime finish to Game 1.
Wednesday’s game between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers averaged just 2.42 million viewers on TNT and truTV, according to hockey ratings tracker Braylon Breeze. Barring the COVID-impacted 2020 and 2021 seasons, it was the least-watched Game 1 for any Stanley Cup Finals series since 2008, when the Detroit Red Wings faced the Pittsburgh Penguins on the now-defunct Versus cable network.
The game finished down 22% versus last year’s Stanley Cup Finals Game 1 on ABC, which featured the same two teams and averaged 3.12 million viewers. Compared to 2023, the last time the Stanley Cup Finals aired on a cable network, TNT saw a 12% decline versus Game 1 of the Florida Panthers-Las Vegas Golden Knights series (2.75 million viewers).
Of course, this is also the first Stanley Cup Finals to include Nielsen’s expanded out-of-home viewing measurements. All things equal, TNT’s Game 1 viewership figure would likely look worse from a historical perspective.
Wednesday’s decline is well in line with the declines in NHL playoff viewership throughout the rest of the postseason. Both TNT and ESPN posted year-over-year declines in the 20-30% range, much of which has been attributed to the emergence of Canadian teams, resulting in fewer viewers tuning in from American home markets.
On the other hand, Canadian viewership has been up this postseason, resulting in a somewhat balanced outcome for the NHL.
As Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch notes, Game 1 was in the same ballpark as Game 1 of the Women’s College World Series Final on ESPN, which averaged 2.11 million viewers head-to-head with the Stanley Cup.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.