Beyond Connor Bedard Impact, NHL’s Ratings Are Up
The NHL enjoys high ratings for many reasons, not the least of which is the obvious draw of Connor Bedard’s arrival.
One of the most important early conclusions from the NHL season is that Connor Bedard is a player that both casual and die-hard fans are interested in watching.
Generational prospects don’t appear out of thin air, so this is not entirely shocking. Given that the game involved the Pittsburgh Penguins, a middle-weight playoff candidate with little recent history, and the Chicago Blackhawks, a team in rebuilding mode, Bedard may be given the majority of the credit for the game’s record-breaking ESPN ratings.
Although Bedard’s NHL debut was an isolated incident, there seems to be a trend of increasing ratings around the league that has nothing to do with the talented young player.
An average of 909,000 people watched the Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Nashville Predators doubleheader on opening night, as well as the late Vegas Golden Knights vs. Seattle Kraken game. This is an increase of 40% over the 2022–23 season’s opening games (Lightning vs. New York Rangers and Golden Knights vs. Los Angeles Kings).
In the beginning, the NHL can also brag about a few more noteworthy ratings triumphs. The Colorado Avalanche and Kraken matchup on Tuesday night garnered the network’s highest late-night regular-season viewership since 2015.
Although it wasn’t the first rivalry game to air in the previous eight years, the matchup had considerable steam following a controversial series between the two in the 2023 playoffs.
The Lightning-Buffalo Sabres game on the same night had an average viewership 11% greater than “comparable games” from the previous season.
These findings demonstrate that rising interest in the NHL is a general phenomenon, not just a Bedard one, which is encouraging for rights holders like ESPN.
Although it’s still early in the season, there are signs that ESPN is trying to increase its NHL coverage. In former years, it would have been practically unheard of for one of the network’s premier shows to have a hockey-related piece, but Pat McAfee supported the NHL this week:
Next week, ESPN will also debut a program dubbed “Frozen Frenzy” that transports viewers around the NHL in a manner akin to “NFL Red Zone.”
Its unclear what impact decisions like this will have, but the NHL is off to a good start so far this season, and it’s not only because of Connor Bedard effect.
