When a Game 7 is on the schedule, high drama, increased tensions, and incredible stakes come along with it. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Blues and Bruins on Wednesday brought all of that, plus an unexpected benefit for NBC – a record audience.
The Blues beat the Bruins 4-1 to win the NHL’s 17th Stanley Cup Final Game 7, and NBC attracted a record audience. The 6.2 overnight rating for the game is not only a record for NBC, it’s a record for any NHL game on any network (including Fox, ABC, and ESPN) since overnight ratings began to be tracked in 1994. The previous record for an overnight game in 2010, for the Blackhawks’ Game 6 Stanley Cup Final triumph over the Flyers (which drew a 5.84 overnight).
Last night’s Blues-Bruins Stanley Cup Final Game 7 delivered a 6.2 overnight rating on NBC, the highest overnight rating for an NHL game on record (since overnights began in 1994). pic.twitter.com/fTrq7qsjWQ
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) June 13, 2019
Locally, the St. Louis market delivered an impressive 41.8 overnight rating. NBC notes that this is a higher overnight in the market for February’s Patriots-Rams Super Bowl (which drew a 39.8 rating in St. Louis), but that probably wouldn’t have held up if the Rams hadn’t abandoned St. Louis for Los Angeles three years ago.
The local overnight in Boston was a 30.2, the highest NHL overnight in the market since Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final between the Bruins and Blackhawks. It was also down 20% from the 2011 Game 7 between the Bruins and Canucks.
