The major question coming out of the huge success of the first ever 4 Nations Face-Off was whether the NHL would get a ratings bump coming off the historic viewership numbers for the international hockey tournament.
While it’s not quite the 9.3 million viewers that tuned in for the USA-Canada 4 Nations final last month, this weekend’s Stadium Series game between the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets drew impressive numbers for ESPN. Columbus won what was a thrilling game thanks to a late game-winning goal from Justin Danforth for a 5-3 victory in front of almost 95,000 fans at the famous Horseshoe.
The Red Wings-Blue Jackets game drew 1.6 million viewers, which was up 16% compared to the two Stadium Series games on ABC last year. More significantly, it was the most-viewed regular season game on ESPN airwaves since the network won the rights back for the NHL in 2021.
The 2025 NHL #StadiumSeries delivers most-viewed regular season game since ESPN re-acquired the rights in 2021
More: https://t.co/xziLVITOkM pic.twitter.com/mZ030CgQzF
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) March 4, 2025
It’s way too early to nail down any defining narratives for how much of a bump the NHL and hockey overall will receive thanks to the incredible success of the 4 Nations Face-Off. But looking at this rating in isolation, it’s hard to see this type of growth as anything but benefiting from the massive investment in coverage that ESPN gave to hockey last month.
The Horseshoe on the campus of Ohio State University made for some fantastic visuals for the game and it was a close contest. But the Blue Jackets are the opposite of a major ratings draw as the franchise has won a grand total of one conference semifinal appearance since their birth in 2000. They are hardly on national television at all. That’s not to take anything away from the way the team has rallied together after the tragic passing of Johnny Gaudreau and how the team has exceeded expectations this season. But this is a franchise that has not been relevant nationally throughout their entire existence.
As for the Red Wings, while they are a traditional powerhouse and very relevant franchise as an Original Six team, they haven’t made the playoffs since 2016 for one of the longest droughts in the four major professional sports. Even now, Columbus and Detroit are currently in the two Wild Card spots in the NHL’s Eastern Conference in a multi-team race for the postseason, so it’s not like they are real Stanley Cup contenders.
And for the NHL, if the Blue Jackets and Red Wings can draw such a big audience for a one-off Stanley Cup game, it’s a great sign for the league moving forward with the postseason just around the corner.
