Sports
Canada Vs USA Finals Hockey Game Garnered Over 9 Million Viewers In The USA
Growing up, James was fascinated with watching sports. This led to an interest in research and stats and writing betting analysis for a variety of sports. James has graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business.
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In a highly anticipated contest, Team Canada took on Team USA in the 4 Nations hockey tournament in the finals on Thursday, February 20.
A total of 10.1 million viewers from North America watched the first hockey game between these two teams. Three fights broke out in the first nine seconds of the game.
The USA won the first game 3-1. However, Canada ultimately came out on top in the finals, winning 3-2 in overtime after Connor McDavid scored the game-winning goal.
The finals between Canada and US ratings are in.
Below are the ratings for both the US and Canada TV viewership.
ESPN Averaged Over 9 Million Viewers For Canada Vs US Hockey Game Finals
ESPN averaged 9,252 million viewers for Thursday’s Canada vs US hockey game.
This is a significant increase in American viewership. For Saturday’s contest between these two teams, 4.4 million viewers in America watched the hockey game.
The finals between Canada and the US is the most watched non-Olympic hockey game on record.
Between the US and Canada, the finals drew 16.1 million viewers matching last year’s Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 viewership (16.3 million).
Sportsnet In Canada Averaged 6.9 Million Viewers For The Finals
Canada averaged 6.9 million viewers across Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, and TVA Sports for the hockey championship contest.
- Sportsnet: 4.471 million viewers
- Sportsnet+: 1.231 million viewers
- TVA Sports: 1.180 million viewers
The first hockey contest between these two teams had 5.7 million viewers in Canada.
Considering Canada has a population of around 40 million people, this means roughly 17.25% of the population in Canada tuned in to the finals. Compared to roughly 2.5% of the population in America who tuned in to the finals.
NHL Embarrassed The NBA All-Star Weekend
Considering the massive numbers, this was a major hit for the NHL.
The talk all week has been the success of the NHL doing the 4 Nations tournament compared to the boring All-Star game.
On the flip side, the NBA has received major backlash for their All-Star weekend. The NBA All-Star game has become a joke. Nobody puts any effort in the All-Star game in the NBA whereas players were trying their hardest in the 4 Nations tournament.
This may put pressure on the NBA to finally change their tedious All-Star format. If they do not change the format, the NBA is better off just stopping the All-Star games altogether.
The NHL should continue with the 4 Nations tournament from now on. Next year will be the Winter Olympics in 2026 but after that, they should continue with this style of tournament instead of an All-Star game.
