The NHL reported promising figures over the weekend for its initial games following the overwhelming success of the 4 Nations Face-Off. According to data from Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, Saturday’s ABC doubleheader, which included a Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins game and a Minnesota Wild vs. Detroit Red Wings game, both experienced double-digit viewer increases compared to last year. The Caps-Pens matchup attracted an average of 1.1 million viewers, a 15% rise from the previous season’s New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers game (957,000 viewers). The Wild-Red Wings game garnered 944,000 viewers, up 21% from the St. Louis Blues and Red Wings matchup a year earlier (779,000 viewers).
While these numbers are impressive for the NHL, they do not necessarily indicate a surge in audience interest stemming from the 4 Nations Face-Off, as was anticipated. Notably, the ABC doubleheader that aired just before the 4 Nations Face-Off began managed to draw more viewers than Saturday’s doubleheader, with 1.12 million compared to 1.02 million viewers, respectively. On Sunday, TNT also witnessed modest increases with a Rangers-Penguins game averaging 560,000 viewers, representing a 6% rise from last year’s Flyers-Penguins matchup. This was TNT’s largest regular-season NHL audience of the season, excluding the Winter Classic.
As Lewis highlights, significant viewer increases following international tournaments are relatively rare. For instance, the 2010 Olympic gold medal hockey game between Canada and the United States attracted nearly 28 million viewers on NBC, yet NHL viewership remained “largely unchanged” afterward. Any persistent increases in viewership post-4 Nations will require additional data to draw conclusive insights. Nonetheless, all four national window games held by the NHL over the weekend achieved year-over-year increases, providing the league with a positive narrative following its successful international venture.
