Nielsen’s methodological changes aside, the NHL is breathing a sigh of relief after seeing the viewership numbers from Opening Night.
The league notched substantial year-over-year increases for its tripleheader on ESPN, averaging 768,000 viewers across the three games, a 37% increase over last year’s slate of games which itself saw a 39% year-over-year decrease versus 2023.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers kicked things off, averaging 743,000 viewers in the early window, more than doubling last year’s comparable game, the St. Louis Blues and Seattle Kraken, which was a questionable decision at the time considering the time zones in the home markets.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers averaged 1.09 million viewers in the primetime window, up 38% versus last year’s game between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers. Per ESPN PR, the Penguins’ 3-0 win was the second most-watched opening night game ever on cable, behind only Connor Bedard’s NHL debut in 2023.
The late game, featuring the Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings, averaged 511,000 viewers, down slightly from last year’s matchup between the Blackhawks and yet-to-be-named Utah Mammoth (522,000 viewers).
Of course, as with all live sports viewership this year, it is difficult to compare versus prior years. In February, Nielsen expanded its out-of-home viewing to include the entire country, and last month the company introduced its Big Data measurements. Both changes generally serve to increase measurements for live sports audiences.
Nevertheless, ESPN and the NHL have to be happy with the rebound from last year’s poor numbers.
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.