The excitement over seeing a Canadian team back in the Stanley Cup Final helped drive some positive numbers for Game 1 between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, at least compared to last year.
ESPN announced on Sunday that Florida’s 3-0 win over the Oilers on Saturday, which was televised on ABC, averaged 3.1 million viewers per Nielsen fast-nationals.
https://twitter.com/ESPNPR/status/1799896921404051707
That number was up 12% from last year’s Game 1 between the Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights, which was broadcast on the Warner Bros. Discovery networks (TNT, TBS, truTV) and garnered an audience of 2.75 million. However, it was also down 26% from the last Game 1 broadcast on ABC, 2022’s Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Colorado Avalanche, which garnered 4.20 million viewers.
The 2024 game’s audience peaked at 3.65 million overall and 1.1 million in the 18-49 demo. While it was the second most-watched Game 1 of the past five years, that stretch also includes two cable broadcasts and the COVID bubble year.
If you want to get hyperspecific, according to Sports Media Watch, the game is the second most-watched Game 1 involving a Canadian team in the last 30 years, trailing only 2011’s Boston Bruins vs. Vancouver Canucks (4.56 million).
If the Oilers can make it a series, it bodes well for where the ratings can go from here. As it stands, the ESPN/ABC networks are averaging 1.45 million viewers for Stanley Cup playoff games this year, which is up 26% from 2023 and up 16% from 2022.
