Sunday Night’s Matchup is First NHL Regular-Season Game on NBCSN to Exceed 1 Million Viewers (1.068 Million)
Flyers-Bruins is Most-Streamed NHL Regular-Season Game in NBC Sports Digital History
Golden Knights-Avalanche Averages Nearly 1.4 Million Viewers for Saturday Afternoon Portion of Game on NBC, Up 30% vs. Last Year’s NHL Regular-Season Average on NBC (Excluding Winter Classic)
Midnight-2 a.m. ET Portion of Golden Knights-Avalanche Averages 394,000 Viewers on NBCSN, Most-Watched Late Night Game Since Season Opener in 2019
STAMFORD, Conn. – Feb. 24, 2021 – Amidst the spectacular and picturesque backdrop of Lake Tahoe, this weekend’s NHL Outdoors games produced numerous viewership milestones across NBC Sports, including the most-watched regular-season game in NBCSN’s 15-year history of televising NHL games for Sunday night’s Flyers-Bruins game. On Saturday, Golden Knights-Avalanche began in the afternoon on NBC but was delayed for hours due to sunshine making the ice unplayable, and ultimately finished after midnight on NBCSN.
Following are highlights:
SUNDAY: FLYERS VS. BRUINS ON NBCSN
- Despite a lopsided 7-3 Bruins victory over the Flyers, Sunday night’s game averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.068 million viewers, making it the most-watched NHL regular season game ever on NBCSN, surpassing the previous record of 978,000 viewers set earlier this year on opening night for Penguins-Flyers (Jan. 13).
- With 1.019 million TV-only viewers, it was the first time that an NHL regular-season game exceeded 1.0 million viewers on NBCSN. Flyers-Bruins is also the most-watched NHL regular-season game on cable in 19 years, since Sharks-Red Wings in 2002 (ESPN; 1.278 million).
- Sunday night’s contest is now the most-streamed NHL regular-season game in NBC Sports Digital history in both Average Minute Audience (49,700 viewers) and live minutes (7.8 million).
- Locally, Boston delivered a 6.69 household rating for the game, making it the market’s best delivery for an NHL regular-season game on NBCSN since the 2014-15 season opener (Phi-Bos; 10/8/14; 7.80 HH rating). Philadelphia scored a 4.07 local HH rating.
SATURDAY: GOLDEN KNIGHTS VS. AVALANCHE ON NBC & NBCSN
Viewership for the Avalanche’s 3-2 victory over the Golden Knights on Saturday is divided into two parts. After starting at 3 pm ET on NBC, the game was delayed for hours due to sunshine that made the ice unplayable. It eventually restarted at midnight ET on NBCSN.
- NBC’s portion of Saturday’s game (3-4:30 pm ET) averaged a TAD of 1.398 million viewers, up 30% compared to NBC’s NHL regular-season TAD last season, excluding the Winter Classic.
- Despite missing out on what likely would have been the most-watched portion of the game from 4:30-6 p.m. ET, Golden Knights-Avalanche on NBC surpassed two recent Stadium Series games: 2020 Kings-Avalanche (1.013 million) and 2018 Leafs-Capitals (1.117 million).
- The TV-only viewership of 1.356 million viewers for Saturday’s afternoon portion is up 19% the comparable timing of the Kings-Avalanche Stadium Series game last season (1.139 million TV-only viewers), which was played in primetime.
- The NBCSN portion of the game (midnight-2 a.m. ET) averaged a TAD of 394,000 viewers, making it the most-watched late night* NHL regular-season game since last season’s Sharks-Golden Knights opener (401,000 viewers; 10:55 p.m. – 1:17 a.m. ET).
- The TAD of 394,000 viewers for Golden Knights-Avalanche is also up 77% compared to NBCSN’s regular-season late night* TAD last season (222,000 viewers for an entire game).
- Saturday night’s TV-only average of 361,000 viewers is up 109% post-midnight TV-only viewership for regular-season games on NBCSN last season (173,000 TV-only viewers).
*Late night is defined as a game that begins after 10 p.m. ET
--NBC SPORTS--
