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On Sunday, October 29th, the National Hockey League will have a regular season game aired on the network of TBS for the first time since the Atlanta Flames were playing games in the Omni Coliseum.
The 2023 Heritage Classic, which will be hosted at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, with the Oilers hosting the Flames, will be broadcast live on TBS beginning at 7:00 PM ET.
Previously, for the latest Heritage Classic in March 2022, TNT broadcasted the game from Tim Hortons Field. The reasoning behind why this year’s edition is airing on TBS is because on TNT, at the same time, there will be a USWNT match airing. The USMNT or USWNT have yet to have one of their matches air on TBS under their television deal, so there is likely a contractual agreement within the terms that declares all of their matches must be aired on TNT, or MAX as their streaming option.
As hockey fans, TBS is not a new network to watch games on, as it has aired many Stanley Cup Playoff games since WBD acquired the NHL rights in 2021. There will be a first for WBD though, as this will be their first-ever NHL broadcast to go head-to-head with the NFL. Last year, we saw that ESPN’s Sunday games during the season didn’t draw particularly well as none of the games surpassed the 300,000 viewer threshold. For this year, we will have to wait and see how a high stakes all-Canadian matchup fairs for viewership in the United States during the peak of the NFL season.
Previous Heritage Classic TV Ratings (USA):
- 2022: Maple Leafs vs Sabres – 348K (TNT)
- 2019: Jets vs Flames – 176K (NBCSN)
- 2014: Senators vs Canucks – N/A (NBCSN)
- 2011: Canadiens vs Flames – 608K (NBCSN)
- 2003: Oilers vs Canadiens – N/A (NHL Center Ice)
