AP Photo / Paul Sancya
The NHL had yet another record-breaking week when it came to ratings, and it all began on Tuesday night with an ESPN doubleheader. The Lightning vs Sabres was the first game of the night for ESPN at 7:30 PM ET and that game averaged 552,000 viewers. This was up 12% versus last year’s comparable game which averaged 494,000 viewers between the Flyers and Lightning, and also marked the Sabres most-watched game under the new NHL TV deal. Moving onto the nightcap, the Avalanche vs Kraken proved again that both of these fanbases can provide big numbers as the game averaged 513,000 viewers. This was up 51% from last year’s comparable contest which averaged 339,000 viewers between the Kings and Predators. In addition, the Avalanche vs Kraken also broke an NHL record as it was the most-viewed regular season late game on cable since 2015, outside of opening night. Overall, Tuesday’s ESPN doubleheader averaged 535,000 viewers across the two windows, which was up 28% versus last year’s doubleheader that averaged 417,000 viewers.
Next up was TNT’s lone game of the week with the Penguins vs Red Wings on Wednesday at 7:30 PM ET. Detroit’s win averaged 699,000 viewers which was up a massive 107% from last year’s comparable game between the Flyers-Panthers (338,000 viewers). This also marked TNT’s most-watched weeknight regular season game ever, outside of opening night.
To wrap up the week for the national networks, we had a 10:30 PM ET game on Thursday between the Blackhawks vs Avalanche. Colorado’s blowout win averaged 401,000 viewers which was enough to rank as ESPN’s most-watched regular season 10:30 PM ET game on record. ESPN didn’t have a comparable window for last season.
Now, as we head into week three of the NHL regular season, the league is averaging 684,000 viewers through its nine national telecasts. This is up 40% versus the same point last season (490,000 viewers) and up 17% versus the same point in the 2021-2022 season (587,000 viewers). With this, the NHL is currently off to its most-watched start to the season on record.
The NHL’s national schedule rolls on this week as we have an ESPN triple-header on Tuesday, along with a lone TNT game on Wednesday!