The Colorado Avalanche won Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday. Over three million people watched it happen on ABC.
ABC averaged 3.22 million viewers during the score-fest between the Avalanche/Tampa Bay Lightning. That was second in total viewers for the night, just behind CBS’ coverage of The Price is Right Celebrates 50 Years. ABC won the night in the adults 18-49 years-old demo with the game, grabbing a 0.9 rating.
The trend continues a positive one for the NHL. Entering Wednesday’s Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Stanley Cup Playoffs is averaging 1.12 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2, TNT and TBS. That is up 26% from the same point last year (904K). It’s down 1% from the previous traditional postseason in 2019 (1.13M).
In further good news, the Eastern Conference finals were the most-watched finals since 2013. That matchup earned 2.4 million viewers per game on ESPN. Those numbers between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning were up by 82 percent from last year’s conference finals. They were also up 32 percent from that stage in 2019 – the last season not to be impacted by the pandemic.
During game six, viewership peaked at 3.8 million during game six. That represents the most-viewed conference final game six on pay-TV since 2002. Game one was the most-viewed first game in a conference final since 1994.
