The Stanley Cup Final is headed into the weekend with the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers tied at two games apiece, with three of the four games ending in overtime. The Panthers are attempting to secure back-to-back Stanley Cup championships for the first time in franchise history. Meanwhile, viewership totals for the first three games of the Cup Final have been down nearly 30% compared to last year’s average viewership for the first three games of the series in the United States.
However, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald pointed out that viewership in the home market of the Florida Panthers is also quite low. Specifically, the defending Cup champions are only pulling, for the first three games on TNT Sports, a 3.2, 3.0, and a 3.2 share in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market.
According to Jackson, the 3.2 rating for Game Three of the series is less than one-third of what a regular season Miami Dolphins game draws, and less than a quarter of what the Miami Heat drew when they were last in the NBA Finals.
Although the Florida Panthers’ stadium is located in Sunrise, which is about 25 miles from central Miami, these figures are still higher than regular season viewership locally in the market. In fact, Jackson notes that most Panthers games draw below a 1.0 rating in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market.
Last year, Game Seven between the Panthers and Oilers drew a 9.6 rating locally in the market, as the Panthers secured their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. By comparison, Game Seven of the Heat matchup against the Boston Celtics in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals drew a 14.6 share.
Nationally, Game Three delivered the smallest Cup Final audience since Canadiens-Lightning Game Two on NBC Sports Network in 2021, which was also pushed back due to COVID (1.69M).
Finally, Jackson notes in his reporting that having the games featured on TNT Sports instead of ABC television, as well as having a Canadian team participating, is more than likely affecting the numbers.
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