The NHL opening night tripleheader on ESPN set viewership records, including the network’s most-viewed regular season game on record. Chicago Blackhawks forward and rookie phenom Connor Bedard made his NHL debut, averaging 1.43 million viewers, 676,000 of which were in the core 18-49 demographic.
Compared to the rest of the television slate, the matchup was the third-most-watched sports program, finishing behind FOX Sports’ presentations of the American League Division Series (ALDS).
As a whole, the two games presented in prime time on ESPN, including the aforementioned Blackhawks-Penguins showdown, were up 64% from the opening night prime-time games last year with an average of 1.06 million viewers.
The other prime-time matchup featured the Seattle Kraken facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights, which began the proceedings with a memorable pregame ceremony to raise the 2023 Stanley Cup Championship banner. That game averaged 691,000 viewers, which was up 24% from the Golden Knights’ opener against the Los Angeles Kings last year.
The tripleheader in its entirety averaged 909,000 total viewers and peaked at 1.65 million, with the first matchup between the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning averaging 598,000 viewers. Additionally, 439,000 consumers were in the P18-49 demographic, which is up 40% and 45%, respectively, from last year’s opening night doubleheader.
Bedard’s debut, which garnered a 0.8 rating from Nielsen Media Research, also marked the largest audience for a regular season NHL game on cable, according to Sports Media Watch. Concurrently, the showdown was the most-watched opening night game in the history of cable television. The rating was up 79% with a 92% rise in viewership compared to the Tampa Bay Lightning season opener against the New York Rangers in the same time slot last year.
