The NHL was not a beneficiary of additional viewing now associated with the Easter holiday. In fact, last weekend’s ratings paint a troubling picture for the league.
According to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, Sunday’s Stanley Cup Playoffs tripleheader averaged just 806,000 viewers across the ESPN family of networks, down 22% versus last year’s quadrupleheader (1.04 million viewers). Likewise, Saturday’s doubleheader on TBS declined 11% versus last year’s comparable games, averaging 895,500 viewers this year versus 1.01 million viewers for last season.
In all, Stanley Cup Playoffs viewership across ESPN, ESPN2, and TBS is averaging 842,000 viewers, down 18% versus this point last season.
Saturday night’s Colorado Avalanche-Dallas Stars game was the most-watched of the weekend, averaging 981,000 viewers on TBS, down 14% versus last year’s Toronto Maple Leafs-Boston Bruins game. The St. Louis Blues-Winnipeg Jets lead-in averaged 810,000 viewers, down 7% versus last year’s game (873,000 viewers).
On ESPN, Sunday afternoon’s New Jersey Devlis-Carolina Hurricanes game delivered its most-watched hockey game of the weekend, averaging 880,000 viewers, down a sharp 34% versus last year’s Washington Capitals-New York Rangers game in the same window (1.34 million viewers).
ESPN’s other games didn’t fare much better. Ottawa Senators-Toronto Maple Leafs averaged 794,000 viewers on ESPN2, down 27% from an Avalanche-Jets game last year (1.09 million viewers). And a Minnesota Wild-Las Vegas Golden Knights nightcap averaged just 735,000 viewers on ESPN, down 8% versus a Nashville Predators-Vancouver Canucks game last season.
Given that Easter Sunday has been a boon for other live sports properties, including the NBA and PGA Tour last weekend, the NHL’s decline might be a sign of things to come this postseason.
Unfortunately, from a ratings perspective, the NHL was dealt a bad hand. Five Canadian teams made the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a factor that can depress audiences stateside. And when it comes to the American teams that did make the playoffs, most are not the “glamor” teams that many think about when they watch the NHL. None of the four American “Original Six” teams made the postseason, completely eliminating the New York, Chicago, Boston, and Detroit markets. Further, other staple franchises like the Pittsburgh Penguins also missed out.
Without these marquee teams, the NHL will struggle to match last season’s viewership. And depending on which teams make deep runs (read: Winnipeg, Ottawa, etc.), things could get real ugly.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.