ORLANDO, FLA – When NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and then-NBC/Universal Sports Group head Dick Ebersol renewed their agreement for U.S. broadcast rights a couple of months ago, they did so believing that interest in the game was on the rise. If game one of the Stanley Cup finals is any indicator, it looks like they were right.
Wednesday’s scintillating 1-0 win by the Vancouver Canucks over the Boston Bruins proved to be a winner both on and off the ice. The television ratings for the game in both the U.S. and Canada were up significantly from last year and challenged record numbers in both countries.
Bolstered by the appearance of the Bruins, an Original Six franchise that hadn’t been to the finals since 1990, the ratings for the broadcast on NBC 
brought in an overnight rating of 3.2 with a 6 share. Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program while shares mark the percentage of all homes with televisions in use at the time. Information from only the largest markets is used to compile overnight stats.
According to NBC, the ratings were the best for a game one in 12 years. The figures also represent a 14 percent increase over the ratings for last year’s opening game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers which was played on a Saturday night as opposed to this year’s mid-week start. Overall, Wednesday’s broadcast drew 4.53 million viewers in the U.S. during primetime, a 5 percent increase over the 4.34 million who watched the first game a year ago. It was also a slight increase over the 4.51 million who tuned in for game one of the 2009 finals – also on a Saturday night – between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings.
The 1999 game one between the Buffalo Sabres and the Dallas Stars drew a 3.4 rating and 7 share for the Fox broadcast network. That game, a 3-2 overtime win for the Sabres, represented an increase over the 3.3 rating and 6 share for the 1998 series opener between Washington and Detroit. Between 2000 and 2009, every series opener aired on a cable channel, either ESPN or Versus.
In the final half-hour of the broadcast (10:30-11 P.M. eastern), NBC logged a 3.8 rating and 6 share as the drama of the scoreless tie built up to Raffi Torres’ winning score with 19 seconds left in regulation time.
The increase also marks a sharp increase from the last time NBC had a Canadian team in the finals. The 2007 clash between Ottawa and Anaheim produced a 1.5 rating and 3 share for the network.
The local market numbers were dominated by cities in the Northeast. Boston, which hasn’t seen a Stanley Cup victory since 1972, led the parade with a 25.5 rating and 39 share. How big were the Bruins Wednesday? The 25.5 rating eclipsed the 19.1 rating in the market for game one of last year’s NBA finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, arguably one of the top five rivalries in all of professional sports.
Second place in the ratings went to Providence, RI – home to the Bruins’ AHL affiliate – with a 16.7 rating and 24 share. Rounding out the top five were Buffalo (7.2/11), Hartford, CT (5.5/8) and Pittsburgh (4.3/7).
For perspective, the 1999 Buffalo-Dallas game drew a 26.6 rating and 42 share in the Dallas market (Buffalo is not among the top markets so its numbers were not known). In the five seasons that Fox had the NHL contract, only Denver logged higher numbers when the Avalanche played in the 1996 finals.
The numbers in the Great White North were just as impressive. The Hockey Night In Canada broadcast on CBC drew, according to CBC, the largest hockey rating for an NHL game in the history of the network.
The Canucks, who have never won the Stanley Cup and are celebrating the franchise’s 40th anniversary this season, helped CBC draw in 5.6 million viewers. Prior to Wednesday night, the previous record was 4.96 million for game seven of the 1994 finals when the Canucks lost to the New York Rangers, fulfilling the famous promise of Rangers’ captain Mark Messier to the fans in New York.
Only one other game in the long history of the CBC has drawn larger viewership than Wednesday’s tilt. The 2002 Olympic gold medal game brought an astonishing 8.96 million Canadian viewers to their television sets. The all-time largest television audience for a hockey game in Canada was the 2010 Olympic gold medal game between Canada and the U.S. That game logged 16.6 million viewers.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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