The Stanley Cup Playoffs enjoyed an Olympic-sized jump in viewership.
The complete 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 1.8 million viewers in the United States across ESPN/ABC and TNT Sports, up 68% from last year and the highest average on record for the playoffs on American television (dating back to 1994), surpassing the previous high set in 1996 by 17% (1.56M).
Note that Nielsen did not begin including out-of-home viewing in its estimates until 2020, only began doing so in 100 percent of markets a year ago, and is months into a new methodology that combines its traditional panel with “Big Data” from smart TVs and set-top boxes. Those changes will generally skew historical comparisons, particularly to years prior to 2020.
The postseason opened with a viewership milestone and maintained that pace throughout. The opening round was the most-watched on record, up 68%. The second round was the most-watched on record, up 55%. Despite a four-game sweep, the Western Conference Final was the most-watched since 2015, up 44%. The Eastern Conference Final fell short of a multi-year high, but still increased 41% — despite featuring a Canadian team whose local fanbase is not tracked by U.S. Nielsen ratings.
The biggest hit of all was the Stanley Cup Final, an all-Sun Belt matchup that might in other years have been a ratings drag. Instead, the six-game Hurricanes-Golden Knights Stanley Cup Final officially ranks among the five most-watched on record.
While the sports viewership milestones of late are at least partially attributable to changes in Nielsen methodology, it does not seem coincidental that the NHL has hit new highs in the months following the United States’ first Olympic men’s hockey gold medal since 1980. Prior to the Olympic break, NHL regular season viewership was already up 15%, but that increase grew to 25% by the end of the season.
The NHL also benefited from better game windows on ESPN — which carried fewer NBA playoff games and no longer airs “Sunday Night Baseball” as part of new rights deals with those leagues — and from having the full Cup Final on broadcast television for just the third time.
