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All of the people that got up earlier to cheer on Team USA contributed to a television viewing record that will likely stand the test of time.
Sadly, the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina have come and gone. Fortunately, both the men’s and women’s hockey teams representing the United States of America went over to Italy and came back to their homeland with shiny, gold medals. Oh, and they both beat Canada in the gold medal game, which made victory that much sweeter.
The women’s team wrapped up their golden run at the 2026 Winter Olympics last Thursday. Their final game aired that afternoon, and after looking like they could be upset by the less-talented Canada team, they rallied during the closing moments of the game, forced overtime, and then scored in sudden death.
The men, on the other hand, didn’t have the luxury of an afternoon gold medal game. The men’s hockey final had puck drop at around 2 PM local time in Italy… which meant that it got started at 8 in the morning (EST) in the United States. Despite the early start, Americans came together and made plans to watch the game anyways.
Places like New York even lifted their enforcement of alcohol service hours so fans could still pre-game before and then drink during the game:
Tomorrow, it’s a gold medal morning 🇺🇸
I’ve directed the State Liquor Authority to suspend enforcement of alcohol service hours from 6–10 AM so bars and restaurants can open early and fans can watch the U.S. go for the gold together.
This is only for counties not under a State…
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) February 21, 2026
Isn’t this country the best?
They certainly are at hockey, and they’ve got gold medals on both the men’s and women’s sides to prove it. And everyone that sacrificed their sleep to get up and cheer on Team USA this past Sunday were first rewarded with overtime hockey. Shortly after the puck dropped and the extra hockey began, Jack Hughes delivered a golden goal.
It was ELECTRIC, and a moment that many US sports fans won’t ever forget:
JACK HUGHES DELIVERS AMERICA'S GOLDEN MOMENT IN OVERTIME. pic.twitter.com/4foFDOri53
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 22, 2026
USA! USA! USA!
I’ve probably watched that video 100 times over the past couple of days, and it doesn’t ever get old. That’s even after I was lucky enough to watch it all unfold in real time on Sunday morning, and I wasn’t the only one that was glued to my television watching Team USA take down Canada in the gold medal game.
In fact, there was a record number of people tuned in.
NBC is reporting that the game between the North American foes is now the most watched sporting event ever… to start before 9 AM EST. Somewhat of a specific stat, I know, but still very impressive. Over 20 million fans in the United States tuned in to the game, and total viewership peaked at over 26 million during the overtime period.
That was enough to set a television ratings record:
Olympic Hockey TV ratings:
🇺🇸 NBC/Peacock: peaked at 26 million in overtime. *According to NBC, this is the most viewers ever for a pre-9am ET sporting event.
🇨🇦 CBC/consortium: peaked at 8.7 million in overtime.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 24, 2026
Oh, and Canada had a peak of 8.7 million during overtime as well. I’d guess they also set a record for “most TVs turned off in unison as a result of a gold medal game loss,” but I don’t have the numbers to prove that one. That’s just a gut feeling I have, and I feel pretty comfortable about it being right.
So if you got up early to watch the boys in Red, White and Blue this past Sunday, pat yourself on the back. As they were making history out on the ice, you played a small part in making history as well.
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