Viewership Prediction for the 2024 NHL Winter Classic

The 2024 NHL Winter Classic is just a few more hours away, as this time the event heads to the West Coast for the first time in history, with the game taking place at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington. This year marks the fifteenth edition of the game, with a matchup between the Seattle Kraken and the Vegas Golden Knights. TNT will be broadcasting its third Winter Classic, and with that, the expectations for viewership have shifted as the game has moved to being broadcast on cable. In addition, this year’s game features the two newest franchises in the NHL, and neither one draws quite the numbers teams like the Bruins and Penguins do, which made up last year’s game. As a result, here are JHeaps and I’s viewership predictions for this year’s Winter Classic:

Previously, the lowest-viewed edition of the Winter Classic was in 2022 for the Blues and Wild at Target Field, which averaged 1,360,000 viewers on TNT. For this year’s edition of the annual outdoor game, fans can expect somewhere in the same ballpark for the viewership of the Emerald City’s Winter Classic. Will it be the lowest edition of the game yet, or will it rise above expectations? We will soon find the answer as TNT’s coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. ET tomorrow for pre-game coverage live from T-Mobile Park.

Here are our previous viewership predictions:

Tuesday, TNT Election Day Doubleheader on 11/8/23:

• Red Wings vs Rangers (7:30 PM ET): Predictions – Braylon: 685K, JHeaps: 706K, Result: 532K
• Devils vs Avalanche (10:00 PM ET): Predictions – Braylon: 374K, JHeaps: 289K, Result: 288K

Wednesday, TNT Doubleheader on 11/9/23:

• Panthers vs Capitals (7:30 PM ET): Predictions – Braylon: 391K, JHeaps: 402K, Result: 390K
• Kings vs Golden Knights (10:00 PM ET): Predictions – Braylon: 308K, JHeaps: 237K, Result: 334K