The NHL Stadium Series between the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets averaged 1.6 million viewers on ESPN, marking the most-viewed regular-season game since The Walt Disney Company reacquired NHL broadcasting rights four years ago. The Eastern Conference matchup, which ended in a 5-3 victory for the Blue Jackets, emanated from Ohio Stadium in front of a crowd of more than 94,000 fans. Consumption for the contest peaked with an audience of 1.8 million viewers, rendering the most-viewed Stadium Series in cable television history and most-watched iteration of the event since 2019.
Compared to the previous Stadium Series matchup between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders, the game was up 16.8% in overall viewership. The game also achieved a 16% increase from both Stadium Series games last year televised on ABC, both of which took place on consecutive nights from MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The preceding matchup last season was a game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils that averaged 1.13 million viewers.
This year’s Red Wings-Blue Jackets matchup is the most-viewed NHL regular-season game of the year, which comes after a record-setting 4 Nations Face-Off tournament across ESPN platforms. The 4 Nations Face-Off championship game between the United States and Canada averaged 9.3 million viewers on ABC, ESPN+ and Disney+, which marks the largest hockey audience in the history of ESPN. For the tournament as a whole, games averaged 4.3 million viewers on ESPN platforms, which is up by 1079% from the 2016 World Cup of Hockey presentation on the network.
The ESPN broadcast team for the NHL Stadium Series game featured play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough, analyst Ray Ferraro and reporters Emily Kaplan, Kevin Weekes and Marty Smith. Rules analyst Dave Jackson contributed to the broadcast as well, and studio coverage included Steve Levy, Mark Messier and P.K. Subban. In addition to the presentation on ESPN, the game was also available to watch on ESPN+ and Disney+. A regular-season game between the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins preceded the NHL Stadium Series game broadcast live on ABC and ESPN+.
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