Falling Viewership on ESPN and TNT Signals a Wake-Up Call for Gary Bettman and the NHL
Photo credit: HTR
The NHL and Gary Bettman should be extremely concerned about the latest round of viewer trends, which reveal steep drops for the league in early season games.
The NHL's Frozen Frenzy, which featured all 32 NHL teams playing on the same night earlier this week, generated a lot of buzz on social media. However, based on recent data, there wasn't a significant rise in viewership. In fact, the most recent data indicates a steep drop in viewers for the league once more, which must be a worrisome revelation for NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
Numerous leagues, including the NHL, released viewership figures from Sports Media Watch, which routinely tracks ratings for all major sports. The NHL on ESPN and TNT is, to put it mildly, struggling, while NASCAR saw a record-breaking spike in viewership, and the NBA and English Premier League saw increases.
"Wednesday's Sabres-Penguins NHL regular season game averaged a 0.28 rating and 512,000 viewers across TNT (0.23, 422K) and truTV (0.05, 90K), down 32% in ratings and 27% in viewership from Penguins-Red Wings last year (0.41, 699K), but up 40% and 51% respectively from Flyers-Panthers in 2022 (0.20, 338K). (Updated to include the truTV simulcast.) The Bruins-Avalanche nightcap drew a 0.16 and 263,000 on TNT, with figures for truTV not immediately available.
The prior night, ESPN averaged a 0.21 and 417,000 for Wild-Blues, down 29% and 24% respectively from Lightning-Sabres a year ago (0.29, 552K). The Flyers-Oilers nightcap had 333,000 (-35%).
All eight games on ESPN and TNT that can be compared to last season have declined."
The prior night, ESPN averaged a 0.21 and 417,000 for Wild-Blues, down 29% and 24% respectively from Lightning-Sabres a year ago (0.29, 552K). The Flyers-Oilers nightcap had 333,000 (-35%).
All eight games on ESPN and TNT that can be compared to last season have declined."
An earlier report also unveiled that the WNBA Playoffs have more viewers this year than the NHL. I can't say that it's surprising, but it's obviously not the NHL's ideal start to the season. The market for all of the major professional sports, including the NHL, is getting older. The NHL's core audience is just not interested enough to seek out content like younger generations are, and keeping up with all the ways to subscribe, stream, or even pirate NHL games is a confusing mess.
Regional restrictions are one of the things that the NHL should immediately do away with if it is serious about increasing its viewership. The fact that broadcasting agreements prevent us hockey fans from attending local games in 2024 is utterly ridiculous. Take care of it, NHL, or you risk permanently alienating your core supporters.
| POLL | ||
24 OCTOBRE | 91 ANSWERS Falling Viewership on ESPN and TNT Signals a Wake-Up Call for Gary Bettman and the NHL Is it surprising to hear NHL viewership is down for the first part of the 2024-25 season? | ||
| Yes | 30 | 33 % |
| No | 61 | 67 % |
| List of polls | ||
Latest 10 stories
