March 29, 2018: Sidney Crosby celebrates his overtime-winner against the Devils, another baseball-style goal. Ed Mulholland, USA TODAY Sports
The halfway mark of the 2023-2024 NHL season is nearly here, and with that, there have been a total of 43 nationally televised games across the networks of ESPN and TNT, so who have been the most-watched NHL teams to this point?
1. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins may not be as dominant as they once were on the ice, but on the television side, they remain the dominant force. Through four nationally televised games, Pittsburgh is averaging 876,000 viewers across ESPN and TNT. Their most-watched game comes on opening night, when they played against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks, as that game averaged an all-time regular season cable high of 1,431,000 viewers. On the other side, their lowest-viewed game of the season was on Black Friday, when they played against the Buffalo Sabres on TNT. That game averaged 528,000 viewers, which is still above TNT’s season average (423K). For the Penguins’ other nationally televised games, they have averaged 699,000 viewers for an October game against the Red Wings on TNT, along with an average of 846,000 viewers when they played against the Bruins over a week ago on ESPN, which is also the most-watched NHL game on the network, outside of opening night.
2. Chicago Blackhawks
Connor Bedard. That’s all that needs to be said behind the reasoning behind why Chicago is drawing the numbers they are, even if the franchise is currently 31st in the league standings. The Blackhawks have had a total of five games on national television at this point in the season, with an average of 732,000 viewers across the networks of ESPN and TNT. The highest of which came on opening night, when Connor Bedard made his NHL debut while going up against the Pittsburgh Penguins with an average of 1,431,000 viewers on ESPN. Contrarily, the Blackhawks’ lowest-viewed game came during the second week of the season in October, as they played against the Avalanche with a 10:30 p.m. ET start on ESPN, which averaged 401,000 viewers. Chicago’s other nationally televised games have averaged 896,000 viewers for TNT’s opening night when they played against the Bruins, the network’s most-watched regular season game under their deal with the NHL. The Blackhawks also played the Bruins on ESPN’s Frozen Frenzy tripleheader, as that game averaged 526,000 viewers. Lastly, Chicago’s latest game on national television came in the middle of December, when they played against the Oilers in the latter game of an ESPN doubleheader, which averaged 406,000 viewers.
3. Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings have shown some improvements on the ice this season, and as a result, so has their national presence. Through Detroit’s four nationally televised games, they are averaging 654,000 viewers across the networks of ESPN and TNT. The most-viewed of which comes from a game against the Rangers in late November that averaged 757,000 viewers on TNT. Detroit’s lowest-viewed game came on Election Day as a part of TNT’s doubleheader when they played the Rangers, which averaged 532,000 viewers, still well above the network’s season average of 423K viewers. Other national games for the Red Wings this season include a TNT game against the Penguins during the second week of the season in October, which averaged 699,000 viewers, along with an ESPN game in the middle of December against the Red Wings that averaged 626,000 viewers.
4. New York Rangers
New York City is the definition of a hockey market. The Rangers will always provide good numbers for the sport of hockey. At this point in the season, the Rangers have had just two nationally televised games, which have averaged 645,000 viewers, with the majority of their games still to come on ABC’s Hockey Saturday schedule. NYR’s most-viewed game came in late November, as they played against the Red Wings on TNT with an average of 757,000 viewers. The Rangers’ other game to air on national television this year was on TNT’s Election Day doubleheader when they played against the Red Wings with an average of 532,000 viewers.
5. Boston Bruins
Another great hockey market is undeniably the city of Boston. The Bruins are always one of the biggest draws in the league, and that hasn’t changed this season, as the team is averaging 627,000 viewers across the networks of ESPN and TNT through their six nationally televised games. Boston’s highest-viewed game came on TNT’s opening night of the season, when they played against the Blackhawks with an average of 896,000 viewers. The lowest-viewed game for the Bruins this year came in late December, when they played against the Sabres on TNT with an average of 438,000 viewers. Boston’s other national games consist of a game against the Blackhawks on the NHL’s Frozen Frenzy night, which averaged 526,000 viewers on ESPN, and a game against the Panthers on November 22nd, which averaged 517,000 viewers on TNT. In addition, the Bruins played the Devils on December 13th, which averaged a surprising 538,000 viewers on TNT, despite the Devils’ market being blacked out for the game. Lastly, the latest national game for Boston came a little over a week ago when they played the Penguins on ESPN, which averaged a regular-season cable high of 846,000 viewers for the network.
So, there you have it. The most-watched teams for the 2023-2024 NHL season continue to be the strong, traditional markets for the sport. Even with the expansion to new markets like Seattle and Las Vegas, which draw good numbers at times, the markets that have loved hockey for so long continue to move the needle for the league. With that, a big opportunity for viewership is on the horizon as ABC’s Hockey Saturday kicks off tomorrow with the Rangers and Capitals. The entire NHL on ABC schedule can be seen here.
