Sports Ratings Tracker

Last weekend’s Red Wings-Devils NHL regular season game averaged 863,000 viewers on ESPN, the network’s most-watched game since 2021, excluding Opening Night and the Stadium Series. ESPN losing its Sunday night NBA games to NBC has opened up that window for NHL games (as will ESPN’s loss of Sunday night MLB starting next month).

(Note that changes in Nielsen methodology — specifically the expansion of its out-of-home viewing sample and shift to a new methodology that adds “Big Data” to its traditional panel — will generally skew comparisons to past years.)

ESPN also drew 808,000 for Sabres-Penguins last Thursday. On ABC last Saturday, Capitals-Bruins and Rangers-Devils both averaged 1.0 million. ESPN/ABC is now averaging 782,000 for NHL games this season (+21%).

NHL games were averaging 648,000 viewers on ESPN and ABC through January 23 (18 telecasts), up 31% from last year. On ESPN alone, games were averaging 569,000 (+39%).

ESPN averaged 754,000 for Lightning-Blackhawks on January 23 and 574,000 for Red Wings-Wild the previous night.

Sunday’s Stars-Oilers NHL Western Conference Final Game 3 averaged 1.71 million viewers on ABC, down 3% from the same matchup on TNT Sports last year, which aired in primetime (1.76M). Compared to last year’s comparable conference final window on ABC, viewership fell 30% from Rangers-Panthers Game 3 (2.46M).

Game 4 on Tuesday night drew 1.52 million on ESPN, down 17% from the same matchup a year ago on TNT and truTV (1.82M). Compared to last year’s Rangers-Panthers Game 4 on ESPN, viewership fell 27% from 2.07 million.

Saturday’s Jets-Stars second round Stanley Cup playoff Game 6 averaged 2.27 million viewers, more-than-doubling the all-Canadian Canucks-Oilers Game 6 on ESPN last year (1.01M). Excluding Game 7s, the Stars’ series-clinching win delivered the largest second round playoff audience since the current NHL media rights deal began in 2021.

On Sunday, Panthers-Maple Leafs Game 7 averaged 1.9 million across TNT and truTV — up from last year’s lone Game 7, which was also from the Oilers-Canucks series (1.66M). It was the first second round Game 7 on the TNT Sports networks.

Saturday’s Avalanche-Stars first round Stanley Cup playoff Game 7 averaged 2.4 million viewers on ABC, down 25% from Maple Leafs-Bruins last year (3.2M) but still the most-watched game of the postseason thus far.

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 727,000 viewers on the ESPN networks, down 29% from last year.

ABC averaged 547,000 viewers for Capitals-Blue Jackets and 519,000 for Rangers-Hurricanes in an NHL regular season doubleheader last Saturday, down 38 and 11 percent respectively from last year’s equivalent windows (Islanders-Rangers: 877K; Kraken-Stars: 584K). ABC also carried a third game last season, drawing 1.19 million for Bruins-Penguins in primetime.

On ESPN Sunday, Avalanche-Ducks averaged 495,000 following Sunday Night Baseball.

Shifting to the workweek, ESPN averaged 237,000 for Panthers-Lightning and 157,000 for Kings-Kraken in a Tuesday night doubleheader — both down from last years solo Maple Leafs-Panthers game (316K).

NHL: Saturday’s Red Wings-Golden Knights NHL regular season game averaged 687,000 viewers on ABC, down 18% from Panthers-Rangers last year (836K). ABC is now averaging 916,000 for its Saturday slate this season, up 10% from last year (not counting last year’s outdoor games). Including a Sunday afternoon matinee that aired opposite the NFL in January, the network is averaging 881,000 for its full schedule — down 5%.

Saturday’s Devils-Penguins NHL regular season game averaged 604,000 viewers on ABC, down 24% from Rangers-Penguins last year (798K). Despite the drop, ABC’s Saturday NHL series is still trending up 12% from last year — not counting outdoor games — with an average of 937,000 viewers.