2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin with a record pace

Fueled by a weekend start, which included six standalone windows, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are currently averaging 980,000 viewers, up 50% in viewership compared to last year (654K), as the NHL’s post-season rolls into Tuesday night’s quadruple-header.

To begin, Saturday and Sunday provided the NHL with its three largest opening round Game 1 audiences on cable in history, with the Capitals-Rangers (1.34 million), Maple Leafs-Bruins (1.14 million), and Avalanche-Jets (1.09 million).

Furthermore, the Jets’ 7-6 win over Colorado is the most-viewed opening-round game to ever air on ESPN2 (1.09 million), previously passing a record set by Game 7 of the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames in 2022 (1.02 million).

Moving onto Monday’s slate, the NHL continued its upward trend in viewership, led by the Maple Leafs and Bruins on ESPN with an average of 1.13 million viewers, up 6% vs. last year’s comparable game, Panthers-Bruins (1.07 million). The latter half of ESPN’s two games, the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars, averaged 777,000 viewers, up 61% vs. last year’s comparable game (Kings-Oilers, 438K), and the highest-viewed opening round Game 1 to air in the 9:30 p.m. ET timeslot under the current television deal.

Shifting to ESPN2, Monday’s slate of games to air on the deuce each posted viewership declines. Beginning with the Islanders and Hurricanes at 7:00 p.m. ET, which averaged 556,000 viewers, down 13% vs. last year’s comparable window (Islanders-Hurricanes, 642K). Closing out the night was the Kings and Oilers at 10:30 p.m. ET, which averaged 362,000 viewers, down 35% vs. last year’s comparable game (Wild-Stars, 561K).

Overall, Monday night’s four games across the networks of ESPN averaged 706,000 viewers, up 5% vs. last year’s comparable night (670K). For game-by-game viewership and series averages, click here.

^{(information via Sports Media Watch)}