With over half the NHL regular season complete and the All-Star Weekend around the corner, the league’s viewership numbers are hitting record levels. Networks such as ESPN, ABC, TNT have all recorded strong figures throughout the early stages of the season.
According to a recent article by Austin Karp on Sports Business Journal, the league is seeing a sharp growth in popularity. The average viewership this year has shot up to 487,000. TNT recorded a 17 percent increase and ESPN’s numbers soared to a 39 percent jump over last season at this stage. The one broadcast on ABC ranked as the third most viewed game of the season.
National NHL viewership promising heading into All-Star Break https://t.co/7D0WFF3qdF pic.twitter.com/gTmHyepJyj
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 24, 2024
A highly anticipated opening day matchup between Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins turned out to be the most watched game of the season and averaged an audience of approximately 1.43 million. That number was a record for an NHL regular season game on ESPN. TNT’s matchup between 2023 Stanley Cup winner the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken ranked second with over 1.1 million watching.
The emergence of rookie phenom Connor Bedard has been a key factor in the increase in numbers. The highly-rated 18-year-old center from British Colombia expected to be the next big thing in hockey. It came as no surprise when he was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks with the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL draft. His debut for Chicago was the most viewed game of the season. His game the following night versus the Boston Bruins was the fourth highest ranked game of the year.
It will be hard to compete with the NFL which remains miles ahead of their North American competitors when it comes to television audience, but the NHL continues to grow at an impressive rate.
