For a matchup of Canada against the Sun Belt, Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final did about as well as one could reasonably expect in the ratings.
Saturday’s Oilers-Panthers NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 1 averaged a 1.6 rating and 3.12 million viewers on ABC, up 17% in ratings and 13% in viewership from Panthers-Golden Knights on TNT, TBS and truTV last year (1.3, 2.75M), but down 29% and 26% respectively from the previous Game 1 on ABC, Lightning-Avalanche two years ago (2.2, 4.20M).
Compared to the previous opener to involve a Canadian team, Canadiens-Lightning in the COVID-delayed season of 2021, viewership nearly doubled from 1.61 million on the now-defunct NBCSN.
The Panthers’ shutout win, which peaked with 3.65 million in the fast-nationals, trails only Bruins-Canucks in 2011 (4.56M) as the most-watched Game 1 involving a Canadian team in the past 30 years. Keep in mind the 2011 game was the only other one of those to air on broadcast television. The last time Edmonton made the Cup Final, their opener against Carolina averaged just 861,000 on the network then known as OLN.
Overall, it was the second-most watched Game 1 in the past five years — though that stretch that includes two games on cable and one in the COVID “bubble.” Going back further, it was the fifth-least watched in the past 15.
Including Canadian viewership on CBC, SportsNet and TVAS, Game 1 averaged 7.1 million viewers — up 43% from last year’s combined North American audience. There was no Canadian team last year, which explains the size of the increase.
Game 1 of the Cup Final ranks second among playoff games this season behind Maple Leafs-Bruins Game 7 in the first round, which averaged 3.24 million on ABC in the same Saturday night window.
The ESPN networks are now averaging 1.45 million viewers for Stanley Cup playoff games this year, up 26% from last year and up 16% from 2022.
