Hockey fans across the country are still buzzing about the success of the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off, which concluded last week with Canada’s overtime win over the United States. The NHL returned to business this past weekend, hoping to capitalize on the tournament’s rousing viewership success.
A reported 16.1 million viewers across the U.S. and Canada watched the tournament final, which took place at TD Garden in Boston, MA, in front of a capacity crowd.
On Monday, ESPN host Steve Levy joined The Dan Patrick Show to discuss the excitement surrounding the tournament and what he believed contributed to the impressive viewership numbers.
“I go back to the fights, and people won’t like this, but I think the Tkachuk fights on a Saturday night in Montreal—the three fights in nine seconds—really made the turn,” Levy said. “People want to watch the US and Canada, I get that, but that attracted a certain crowd.”
ESPN’s prime-time broadcast last Thursday secured an average of 9.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched non-Olympic hockey game on record, according to Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal. The previous high for an NHL game in U.S. history was 8.9 million viewers, recorded during Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final between the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues.
Meanwhile, in Canada, Rogers Sportsnet and SportsNet+ drew an average minute audience of 5.7 million viewers for their broadcast of the game, according to viewership data from Numeris. The concurrent audience peaked at 7.3 million viewers when Connor McDavid scored the tournament-winning goal.
Now, the decision rests with the NHL on whether to replicate the tournament in the future. However, Levy told Dan Patrick that he believes this particular iteration of the 4 Nations Face-Off is unlikely to be repeated.
“I think this is a one-off,” Levy said. “I don’t think we ever see four nations again. This was a stopgap, despite how successful it was. The NHL has already said they’re going to do the World Cup of Hockey, and that could include eight nations. I don’t think we’ll see the 4 Nations format again, especially with the Olympics next year.”
While Levy doesn’t see the NHL bringing back the tournament in its current form, he does believe the league may explore a similar concept in the future, possibly incorporating more nations.
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