The first Stanley Cup Final Game 7 in eight years delivered in the overnight ratings.
Wednesday’s Blues-Bruins Stanley Cup Final Game 7 scored a 6.2 overnight rating on NBC, up 9% from Bruins-Canucks in 2011 (5.7) and up 24% from Penguins-Red Wings in 2009 (5.0), the two previous game sevens.
The 6.2 is the highest for any NHL game since the league returned to broadcast television in 1995, topping the previous high of 5.8 for Blackhawks-Flyers Game 6 in 2010. One would have to go back to the 1970s to find a higher overnight (1974 Bruins-Flyers Game 6: 7.6).
Overnights peaked at a 7.25 from 10:15-10:30 PM ET.
The Blues’ title-clinching win had a 41.8 rating in St. Louis, up 27% from Game 6 (33.0) and the market’s highest on record for an NHL game on NBC Sports. The 41.8 is the third-highest local NHL rating, in any market, since NBC resumed NHL coverage in 2006. Boston’s 43.4 in Game 7 of the 2011 final holds the top spot, followed by Pittsburgh’s 42.2 in Game 7 of the 2009 final.
As NBC noted, 41.8 in St. Louis exceeded this year’s Super Bowl in the market, which featured the former St. Louis Rams (39.8).
Game 7 had a 30.2 rating in Boston, down 30% from the aforementioned 2011 Game 7, but the market’s fourth-highest NHL rating on NBC.
Bruins secondary market Providence ranked third at a 24.4, down 6% from 2011 (25.9). Buffalo was the top neutral market at a 14.0 (+32%), with Kansas City rounding out the top five at a 10.1. Other top ten markets include Pittsburgh (9.2, +21%), Hartford (8.4, -3%) and Denver (7.4, +3%).
[Numbers from NBC Sports PR]
