The NHL dropped the puck for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday, April 17th. While the NBA stole most of the headlines, it seems like the NHL is in a very good place, according to ESPN. The first night of the 2023 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs saw viewership in the double digits year-over-year. Learn more about the most watched NHL Playoff Games and find out which game became the most viewed Game 1 First Round NHL Playoff Series ever on cable.
Game 1 between the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins set a new viewership record on Monday, becoming the most-watched opening game ever in the first round of the NHL Playoffs.
At its peak, more than 1.3 million viewers tuned in to see the Boston Bruins escape with a 3-1 victory at home in TD Garden. The NHL Playoffs also drew in strong numbers of viewers between the ages of 18 to 49, which accounted for approximately 44 percent of the total viewers on Monday night.
All in all, the four NHL Playoff games that aired on Monday drew an average of 672,000 viewers, a 17 percent increase from a year ago.
First Game of Round 1 Averaged 672K Viewers
Carolina vs Boston ended up being the most-watched Game 1 ever in the first round of the NHL Playoffs but the other games also performed admirably well in primetime.
On Monday, there were four games, which drew an average of 672,000 total viewers on ESPN/ESPN2.
Compared to last year, this represented a 17% increase in viewership for opening First Round games. The number of viewers aged 18-49 also increased by 25% compared to last year.
Florida vs Boston Game 1 Breaks Viewership Records
Since securing a partnership with ESPN, the NHL has been growing in popularity among young sports fans.
The first game between the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins set a record high of 1.1 million average viewers, with a peak of 1.3 million viewers, a 25% increase from last year.
Of the total number of viewers, about 44% were in the 18-49 age demographic. This represents a 30% increase compared to the first-round games in 2022 when Boston and Carolina met in the playoffs.
The increase in viewership for Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs is good news for the NHL, which is now available on ESPN, a Walt Disney Company platform. All four first-round games were also available through live streams on the ESPN+ app. This has led to an increase in NHL content on the app and page views compared to last season, according to ESPN.
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