After seeing the viewership numbers of the USA-Canada championship game, it might be time to start talking about the 4 Nations Face-Off as one of the most successful events in modern sports history.
Think that’s hyperbole? Think again.
An incredible 9.3 million viewers tuned in to ESPN for the championship game on Thursday night, making it the most watched non-Olympic hockey game in the modern era.
After the USA defeated Canada in the preliminary round in a game that drew an impressive 4.4 million viewers on ABC, Team Canada took home the trophy after Connor McDavid scored in overtime for a 3-2 victory in the final.
Maybe P.K. Subban was right in saying that the USA-Canada game could be bigger than the Stanley Cup itself. The most watched NHL game in modern times came in 2019 when 8.9 million watched Game 7 of the Bruins-Blues Stanley Cup Final. And in its first edition, the 4 Nations Face-Off surpassed it.
To help put this number in further perspective, last year’s Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers (also featuring Canadian star Connor McDavid) drew 7.66 million viewers last summer.
Outside of hockey, the number stacks up with some of the biggest events in sports that aren’t the NFL or college football. It puts it roughly on par with the final round of The Masters, which drew 9.59 million viewers last April. If you’re looking for a football comparison, Indiana-Ohio State drew 9.33 million on Fox in late November as a Top 5 late season matchup.
On the Canadian side of the border, the 4 Nations final drew a total of almost 7 million viewers on English and French language television, making it a total of over 16 million viewers between the two countries. Interestingly enough, while the American numbers were bigger for the 4 Nations versus the Stanley Cup, it was actually the opposite north of the border. 7.5 million Canadians watched last year’s Oilers-Panthers Game 7 on English language television. However, the Stanley Cup was on broadcast television while last night’s game was on SportsNet.
For an impromptu tournament with no history, that wasn’t even on the radar of 95% of sports fans a month ago, to achieve this kind of viewership is one of the most remarkable accomplishments in sports media history. The 4 Nations Face-Off was the perfect sporting event at the perfect moment. And these kinds of truly unbelievable numbers should immediately propel international hockey to being one of the premier attractions in all of sports.
About Matt Yoder