Everyone loves a good "sky is falling" narrative when it comes to hockey. If you spent any time on social media during the last few championship runs, you've probably seen the doom-posting about the NHL's TV numbers. People see a headline about a 40% drop and immediately assume nobody is watching.
Honestly? It's way more complicated than just "hockey is niche."
When we talk about ratings for stanley cup finals, we aren't just talking about how many people like the sport. We're talking about a messy web of cable versus broadcast TV, the "Canadian team" tax, and whether or not a series actually goes to a Game 7. The 2024 and 2025 seasons gave us two completely different stories with the exact same teams. It's a weird case study in how the NHL lives and dies by its broadcast partners.
The Cable Trap: Why 2025 Felt Like a Ghost Town
Let’s look at the most recent numbers because they are, frankly, a bit of a gut punch for the league’s PR department. The 2025 Stanley Cup Final was a rematch—Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers. On paper, you’ve got the best player in the world, Connor McDavid, trying to finish a story. You’ve got a defending champ.
But the U.S. ratings? They tanked.
The 2025 series averaged about 2.5 million viewers in the States. Compare that to 2024, when the exact same matchup averaged 4.2 million. That is a massive cliff. But before you blame the Florida market or "hockey fatigue," you have to look at the channel. In 2024, the Final was on ABC. That’s free. You just need an antenna. In 2025, the series moved to TNT and truTV.
That’s cable.
Basically, the NHL’s current deal with Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney means they rotate the Final every year. One year is ABC, the next is TNT. It is a predictable, self-inflicted wound. Every time the series moves to cable, the audience drops by millions of casual fans who either don't have a subscription or can't be bothered to find the right app. Game 6 in 2025 peaked at 3.3 million viewers, which was actually a record for TNT, but it still looked like a pittance compared to the 16.3 million North Americans who tuned into Game 7 on broadcast TV the year before.
The "Connor McDavid" Paradox
There is this idea that star power drives ratings. In the NBA, LeBron or Steph Curry can carry a series. In the NHL? Not so much.
McDavid is the closest thing the sport has to a transcendent superstar, yet his presence hasn't magically fixed the U.S. viewership issues. Why? Because hockey is still a localized sport in America. If the Rangers or Blackhawks aren't playing, a huge chunk of the U.S. audience simply checks out.
The 2025 Finals featured only one U.S. team (Florida), and they aren't exactly a "Original Six" ratings powerhouse. When you have a Canadian team like Edmonton involved, it's great for Rogers and Sportsnet north of the border—where they saw massive numbers—but it’s a "black hole" for U.S. advertisers. American fans generally don't tune in to watch a team from Alberta, regardless of how good #97 is.
Context Matters: The 4 Nations Face-Off Comparison
If you want to see what actually moves the needle, look at the 4 Nations Face-Off from February 2025. That final between the U.S. and Canada pulled in 9.3 million viewers in the U.S. alone.
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That is nearly quadruple what the Stanley Cup Final Game 6 did a few months later.
This tells us something vital: American fans care about "Best-on-Best" and national pride way more than they care about a Florida/Edmonton rematch. The "ratings for stanley cup finals" will always struggle when the matchup feels regional.
Why the 2026 Outlook is Actually Better
If you're an NHL fan worried about the league's future, take a breath. 2026 is likely going to look like a massive "recovery" year for a few reasons:
- The Return to ABC: The 2026 Stanley Cup Final will be back on broadcast television. Expect the average viewership to jump back over that 4 million mark automatically.
- The Original Six Factor: Statistically, if a team like the Rangers, Bruins, or Red Wings makes a deep run, the ratings floor rises significantly.
- The Olympic Momentum: With the NHL returning to the Olympics, there is a legitimate chance for the league to capture some of that "4 Nations" energy and transition it into the playoffs.
What Actually Moves the Needle?
It isn't just about the teams. It’s about the drama.
Nothing—absolutely nothing—beats a Game 7. The 2024 Game 7 was the second most-watched NHL game on record in North America. People love a winner-take-all scenario. In 2025, Florida clinched in six. That robbed the league of the "Game 7" ratings spike that usually papers over the cracks of a low-rated series.
Also, we have to talk about cord-cutting. The NHL is fighting a war against a changing medium. While linear TV ratings are down, social media engagement for the 2025 playoffs was actually up 32%. People are watching highlights on TikTok and Instagram instead of sitting through a three-hour broadcast on TNT. The "ratings" don't always capture the full cultural footprint anymore.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Advertisers
If you're tracking these numbers to understand the health of the sport or for business reasons, keep these points in mind:
- Look at the "Share," not just the "Number": In 2025, even though total viewers were down, the share of people watching TV who chose hockey actually increased by 15% on TNT compared to their 2023 series. The "pie" is getting smaller, but the NHL is taking a bigger slice of it.
- Don't ignore Canada: The NHL is a dual-market league. A "low" U.S. rating often means a record-breaking Canadian rating. For the league's bottom line, the money from Rogers is just as green as the money from ESPN.
- Monitor the 2026 broadcast schedule: Always check if the game is on ABC or TNT before judging the "success" of a night. The platform is the single biggest predictor of the rating.
The reality is that hockey is healthy, but its TV delivery system is in a state of flux. We're moving toward a world where the "Stanley Cup Finals" might eventually live on a streaming-first platform to bypass the "cable trap" entirely. Until then, expect the numbers to keep bouncing up and down based on nothing more than which channel you have to click on to find the game.