In their second Stanley Cup go-around, we appear to have underestimated the bandwagon capabilities of the city of Los Angeles.
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, which went to a brief overtime before a Kings victory, drew a 3.8 overnight for NBC. That was down a bit from the epic Game 1 played between the Bruins and Blackhawks last year (4.8). Game 1 was, however, the second-highest rated Game 1 in the NBC era.
New York and Los Angeles, the two largest markets in the country, certainly came to play. The network drew a best-ever for hockey on NBC/NBCSN 10.1 rating in the Big Apple, leading all markets. Los Angeles hit a 7.1 rating, trailing only Games 5 and 6 of their championship-winning 2012 series against New Jersey, and up big from the 4.2 the market drew for Game 1 of that series. The rest of the top 10 local markets: Buffalo, Boston, Providence, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Denver, Detroit and Las Vegas.
Game 2 of the Final is on Saturday night, in a game that will immediately follow NBC’s coverage of the Belmont Stakes. It is from here that we head into truly uncharted territory, as the lead-in from that program may take it to previously unforeseen heights, at least for Game 2 of a Stanley Cup Final. That said, it’s good to see that NBC has built a base to start this series with in Game 1.
