NHL Opening Games: WNBA had better ratings

On October 8, the NHL officially launched its season.

Two games between the Devils and Sabres were presented in Prague a few days earlier, but you know what I mean.

That said, looking at the ratings on ESPN in the U.S. for the season-opening games… I’m inclined to believe that league officials were disappointed.

Here’s what we know.

The St. Louis Blues and Seattle Kraken got the ball rolling with an afternoon game.

The game drew an average of 348,000 viewers… a 42% drop compared to last season’s opener (Lightning vs. Predators), which drew no less than 598,000 viewers.

The Bruins then took on the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Panthers, in an early evening match-up.

The game drew an average of 790,000 viewers, a 45% drop compared to last season’s early evening Blackhawks-Penguins game (1.43 million viewers).

And, finally… The evening ended with a match between Connor Bedard’s Blackhawks and the new Utah team.

The game drew an average of 522,000 viewers, down 24% from last season’s evening game between the Kraken and Golden Knights (691,000 viewers).

This data was collected in an article by Sports Media Watch.

But what’s interesting about all this?

When we learn that the fifth game of the WNBA semi-finals between the Minnesota Lynx and the Connecticut Suns had better ratings than the three NHL games presented that day.

The Lynx-Suns game averaged an impressive 984,000 viewers on ESPN 2.

The article I mentioned earlier can be found here:

NHL season gets off to far slower start than last year as all three Opening Day games decline. Last year’s slate was boosted by Bedard debut.

Notable – WNBA Playoffs on ESPN2 outdrew all three games. https://t.co/pq4uLkLmZl

– Sports Media Watch (@paulsen_smw) October 9, 2024

WNBA ratings have been skyrocketing since Caitlin Clark joined the league.

The numbers have exploded because fans want to see how the new women’s basketball sensation is doing night after night.

That said, Clark’s team (Indiana Fever) has already been eliminated for a few weeks.

To put it another way, just because they were playing that night doesn’t mean the NHL’s ratings took a hit.

We know that digital platforms have been gaining in popularity over the past few years, and that many people are making the transition to this new world.

On the other hand, seeing the NHL’s numbers drop like that can be worrying for some.

We’ve been saying it for years, but the league needs to find a way to better promote its sport… Especially in the U.S., where the majority of clubs are located.

Extension

While we’re on the subject of ratings, let’s talk!

On Monday, the game between the Canadiens and the Penguins was also presented on Amazon Prime.

According to my colleague Maxime Truman, 220,000 people (on average per minute) watched the game on the new platform.

Yet Gary Bettman said that the NHL reached more viewers on Amazon than on traditional TV…

So Gary Bettman was wrong when he said the NHL reached more people on Amazon than on traditional TV.

One day, it may be true, but not today.

In short, the NHL must keep traditional TV in the short and medium term. https://t.co/PlpX103vp3

– DansLesCoulisses (@DLCoulisses) October 16, 2024

The numbers are much smaller than those for RDS, and that’s normal: digital broadcasting has made its entry into the sports world, but it’s also a big process because people will subscribe as time goes by.

On the other hand, that doesn’t mean that digital will wipe out traditional TV tomorrow. Especially not in French-speaking Quebec, where traditional channels are still quite popular.