5 Shocking Viewership Trends That Define The NHL's TV Ratings Rollercoaster (2024-2025)

The National Hockey League (NHL) is navigating a complex and volatile media landscape in late 2024 and early 2025, presenting a mixed bag of record highs and concerning lows for its national television partners. The narrative is split: the 2023-2024 season was a resounding success, posting the highest viewership in years, while the early numbers for the 2024-2025 regular season suggest a significant and unexpected decline, forcing a fresh look at the league's broadcast strategy across ESPN, TNT, and ABC. This deep dive into the most current "tv ratings for nhl" data reveals a fascinating, and at times contradictory, story of growth and contraction, highlighting the critical importance of playoff success, marquee matchups, and the performance of big-market teams to the league’s overall media valuation.

The 2023-2024 Season: A Record-Breaking Viewership Boom

The 2023-2024 NHL season stands as a major success story for the league and its national TV partners, ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT/TBS). The season marked a significant milestone, achieving the most-watched regular season since 2015-2016, proving the league's strategy under the current media rights deal is capable of delivering substantial growth.

Regular Season Viewership Soars on Cable

The combined average viewership for NHL regular season games across ABC, ESPN, and TNT hit an impressive 504,000 viewers. This figure represented an 8% increase from the previous season. * ESPN Networks (ESPN/ABC): The Disney-owned networks saw a substantial boost, with the regular season on ESPN averaging 486,000 total viewers, a remarkable 25% year-over-year (YoY) increase. * TNT (Warner Bros. Discovery): TNT also showed strength, with its NHL regular season broadcasts averaging 477,000 viewers, solidifying the sport as a top performer for the network. This growth was attributed to compelling matchups, strong performances by key teams, and a general upward trend in the league's popularity following the new media deal structure. The success demonstrated that the NHL was effectively capturing audience attention, particularly within the coveted P18-49 key demographics.

The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Deliver Massive Audiences

The momentum carried directly into the postseason, with the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs being reported as the second-most watched playoffs in NHL history. * Playoff Average: Through the entire run, the 2024 Playoffs averaged 1.54 million viewers across all networks. * Stanley Cup Final Peak: The championship series delivered a massive peak, with the decisive Game 7 averaging 7.7 million viewers, marking a huge win for the league's visibility. * First-Round Strength: Even the early rounds were strong, with the playoffs through 48 games on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC averaging 1.8 million viewers, a 60% increase in total viewers compared to the previous year's comparable window.

The Unexpected Viewership Contraction of the 2024-2025 Season

Despite the record-setting success of the previous year, the start of the 2024-2025 NHL regular season has presented a significant challenge, with several reports indicating a notable drop in national television viewership.

A Steep Decline in Regular Season Averages

Early data for the 2024-2025 season suggests a sharp reversal of the previous year's trend. The regular season averaged only 379,000 viewers across ESPN and TNT Sports, which marks a significant 23% drop from the 490,000 average of the prior season. This figure positions the current season as potentially the least-watched regular season under the current media rights deal. * National TV Partners Concern: Overall, the NHL saw viewership drop an estimated 12% across its national TV partners in the U.S. during the 2024-2025 regular season. * The 'Big-Market Team' Factor: Analysts point to the underperformance or absence of high-profile, big-market teams in key national broadcast windows as a primary factor for the downturn. The lack of consistent draws from major metropolitan areas can significantly impact overall national averages.

Local TV Ratings Also Face Headwinds

The viewership challenge isn't limited to national broadcasts; local TV ratings for NHL teams have also shown a decline in the U.S. during the 2024-2025 season. This trend suggests a broader issue with audience engagement or the complexities of the regional sports network (RSN) distribution landscape. While some teams have seen gains, the overall local audience numbers have been lower.

Bright Spots: Marquee Events and Streaming Performance

While the overall regular season average has struggled, specific marquee events and the league’s digital presence continue to demonstrate robust growth and strong audience interest, proving the demand for the sport remains high for specific properties.

The Power of the Stadium Series

The NHL's outdoor games remain a massive draw, often serving as the highest-rated events of the regular season. The 2025 Stadium Series game was a major highlight, becoming the most-viewed regular season NHL game on ESPN networks since they re-acquired the NHL rights in 2021, pulling in 1.6 million viewers. This performance underscores the value of unique, high-production events in attracting a massive, one-off audience.

ESPN+ and the Future of NHL Streaming

While traditional TV ratings are measured on cable and broadcast channels, the growth of the NHL's streaming platform, ESPN+, is a crucial component of the league's media strategy. The platform carries hundreds of out-of-market games and exclusive national broadcasts, providing a vital revenue stream and a way to reach younger, cord-cutting audiences. The success of the overall media rights deal with Disney is heavily tied to the subscriber growth and engagement on the ESPN+ platform, even if those numbers aren't always included in the traditional "tv ratings."

Key Entities and Factors Driving NHL Viewership

The performance of NHL TV ratings is a complex equation influenced by several interconnected factors, from the scheduling decisions of the national TV partners to the success of specific franchises. * National TV Partners: The dual-network approach of ESPN (and ABC) and TNT (a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery) has diversified the league's reach but also introduced competition for scheduling the best games. * The Playoff Effect: The difference between the 2023-2024 regular season average and the 2024 Playoff average (504K vs. 1.54M) highlights the immense value of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the league's premier product. * Big-Market Teams: The performance of teams in major media markets—such as the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, and others—is a direct driver of national ratings. Their absence or early struggles can immediately depress the overall season average. * Competition and Scheduling: The NHL often competes directly with the NFL and NBA, particularly on weeknights. Games scheduled opposite major NFL broadcasts, for instance, often hit broadcast TV lows, illustrating the difficulty of cutting through a crowded sports media calendar. In summary, the NHL's television ratings are on a genuine rollercoaster. The 2023-2024 season proved the league has significant growth potential, capable of generating record-high viewership when the storylines and matchups align. However, the early struggles of the 2024-2025 regular season serve as a stark reminder that sustained success is heavily dependent on the on-ice performance of key franchises and the league's ability to consistently deliver marquee content outside of its major event windows. The challenge for the NHL and its national TV partners now is to stabilize the regular season numbers and maintain the incredible momentum of the playoff product.