The months-delayed Stanley Cup Final ended with another ratings low.
Monday’s clinching Stanley Cup Final Game 6 (Lightning-Stars) averaged a 1.7 rating and 2.88 million viewers on NBC (2.95M including streaming), marking the highest rated and most-watched game of the series, but the lowest rated and least-watched Cup clincher in at least two decades.
The Lightning’s win aired directly opposite a much-hyped Monday Night Football game on ESPN (Chiefs-Ravens: 8.1, 14.0M).
Ratings fell 54% and viewership 56% from last year’s non-clinching Blues-Bruins Game 6, which aired on a Sunday night and faced no notable competition. There was no Game 6 in 2018.
Game 5 on Saturday averaged a 1.5 and 2.71 million, down 53% and 50% respectively from last year (3.1, 5.45M). This year’s game aired opposite college football games and the NBA; last year’s game faced no such competition.
The full six-game Lightning-Stars series averaged a 1.2 and 2.15 million (including streaming), down 60% and 61% respectively from last year’s seven-game final (3.0, 5.47M) and the least-watched Cup Final since 2007 (Senators-Ducks: 1.80M). All six games of the series declined at least 50% in ratings and viewership.
The complete Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged a 0.54 and 953,000 across NBC’s TV and digital platforms, down 38% in ratings and viewership from last year (0.87, 1.53M) and the least-watched postseason in at least a decade. The postseason, which took place sans-fans four months later than scheduled, included a number of weekday afternoon starts and head-to-heads with pro and college football.
In a rarity, the Cup Final did not deliver the largest audience of the postseason. Game 7 of the Islanders-Flyers second round series, which had a Kentucky Derby lead-in, was the most-watched game of the 12-month NHL season (2.96M).
Though down significantly from a typical postseason, the Stanley Cup Playoffs helped NBCSN to its most-watched September in both total-day (235K) and primetime (869K). NBCSN also had its most-watched third-quarter (July-September) ever in primetime (506K, +103%), and its fourth-most watched quarter of any kind in total-day (200K). The top three quarters included the Olympics.
Locally, Monday’s season finale averaged a 15.39 rating in Tampa-St. Petersburg — the market’s second-highest NHL rating on NBC. Game 1 of the 2015 final averaged a 17.93.
The last time the Lightning clinched the Cup Final — Game 7 of their 2004 matchup with Calgary — their win averaged a 28.1 on ABC.
Game 6 averaged a 7.28 rating in Dallas-Ft. Worth, that market’s highest NHL rating on NBC. The Stars’ previous Cup Final appearance in 2000 aired on ESPN/ABC.
Stanley Cup Final ratings chart
[Nielsen estimates from NBC Sports, ShowBuzz Daily 9.29 a, b]
