The NHL’s most-watched opening round in six years ended with the league’s largest opening round audience in NBCSN history.
Wednesday’s Maple Leafs-Bruins NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Game 7 earned a 0.8 rating and 1.42 million viewers on NBCSN, marking the largest opening round audience ever on the network (previously VERSUS and OLN). The previous high was 1.35 million for Blackhawks-Blues Game 7 in 2016.
Versus the comparable night last year, ratings increased 41% and viewership 44% from Predators-Blues Game 1 in the second round (0.6, 958K).
The Bruins’ win, which peaked with 2.0 million viewers from 10-10:15 PM ET, had a streaming audience of 69,000 on NBC Sports digital platforms. The combined TV and streaming audience was 1.48 million, topping the previous first round record of 1.42 million for Blackhawks-Blues in ’16.
The complete opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 769,000 viewers across NBC’s TV and digital outlets, up 4% from last year (743K), up 8% from 2016 (714K) and the highest average since 2012 (936K). NBCSN averaged 717,000 viewers for its coverage (including streaming), up 17% from last year (614K) and also the highest since 2012 (744K).
Pittsburgh led all markets for NBC’s first round coverage, averaging a 2.5 rating, followed by Buffalo (2.1), Nashville (1.6) and Boston (1.2).
