Start with two proud hockey countries, add geopolitics into the equation, and then begin the game with three fights in the first nine seconds of play. What’s the result? An incredible viewership number for the United States and Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday.
ESPN said on Sunday that the United States’ 3-1 win over Canada on a rock ’em sock ’em Saturday night in Montreal averaged 4.4 million viewers. Viewership peaked with 5.2 million viewers in the 10:45 quarter hour. That’s the the most-watched non-Stanley Cup Final hockey telecast since a Blue Jackets-Bruins playoff game on NBC in 2019 that averaged 4.5 million. The company said the game was up 369 percent versus the current average for NHL games on ABC. To put things in perspective: NHL postseason games last year across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS and truTV averaged 1.54 million viewers, per Sports Business Journal.
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Saturday’s game was the most-watched NHL game in the United States since Game 7 of the Panthers-Oilers Stanley Cup Final last season, which drew 7.67 million. It clearly showed the desire of hockey fans who have been dreaming of best-on-best for years. The 2016 World Cup of Hockey game between the USA and Canada game did 766,000 total viewers.
The 4 Nations Face-Off concludes Thursday in prime time with the championship game live from Boston’s TD Garden at 8 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes. Canada will clinch a berth in the final if it defeats Finland in regulation on Monday, or if it defeats Finland in overtime or a shootout, and any result of United States-Sweden other than a regulation win by Sweden. The United States has already punched its ticket to the final.
ESPN and the NHL clearly hope the U.S.-Canada rematch occurs. If the 4 Nations Face-Off final was to be aired on ABC featuring those two teams, we’d certainly see the 4.4 million viewership topped. The X-factor is that the championship game is on ESPN. Still, given how much attention Saturday’s game received and the political climate surrounding the game, we likely will see Saturday’s number topped.
(Photo: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
Richard Deitsch is a media reporter for The Athletic. He previously worked for 20 years for Sports Illustrated, where he covered seven Olympic Games, multiple NCAA championships and U.S. Open tennis. Richard also hosts a weekly sports media podcast. Follow Richard on Twitter @richarddeitsch
