Rangers-Islanders on Sunday for the NHL Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium peaked at 2.38 million viewersGetty Images
The pair of NHL Stadium Series games likely got a boost from being in the N.Y. market over the weekend, with Rangers-Islanders on Sunday delivering the best Stadium Series audience since 2019. ABC drew 1.57 million viewers on Sunday afternoon for Rangers-Isles from MetLife Stadium, marking the best Stadium Series game since Penguins-Flyers drew 1.94 million on a Saturday night during the same weekend five years ago. Rangers-Isles peaked at 2.38 million viewers. The game also is the best audience for any regular-season game on either ABC or ESPN since Disney’s new rights deal with the NHL began prior to the 2021-22 season. With 559,000 viewers just in the N.Y. market, Rangers-Isles marked the best regular-season game in Gotham since 2014. Meanwhile, Flyers-Devils on Saturday night drew 1.13 million viewers, which is flat compared to the Capitals-Hurricanes outdoor game in the same window last year. Both Saturday night games had competition from NBA All-Star Saturday night. Each Stadium Series game on ABC outdrew the New Year’s Day NHL Winter Classic this year (just over 1.1 million viewers for Golden Knights-Kraken on TNT). Across the U.S. and Canada over the weekend, the league averaged a combined 9.4 million viewers across national, RSN and streaming broadcasts for 16 games. The Stadium Series doubleheader also saw social media impressions rise 94% compared to last year’s event, with social engagements up 79%.
The All-Star Game and Saturday night events weren’t the only events up for the NBA over the weekend. ESPN drew 1.57 million viewers on Friday night for the Celebrity Game, which is the event’s best figure since 2018. Meanwhile, later on Friday night, fans didn’t get a matchup of Victor Wembanyama vs. Chet Holmgren in the Rising Stars Challenge final, and that likely hurt numbers some. TNT drew 951,000 viewers for the telecast, which is up 7% from last year’s record-low figure, but still likely the second-lowest figure yet. Two years ago, the audience was 1.23 million viewers.
The chart below lists viewership figures for select recent sports telecasts.
