The 4 Nations Face-Off championship game between the United States and Canada on Thursday drew the largest audience for a hockey game ever on ESPN, the network announced on Friday.
The game, in which Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in an overtime thriller, garnered 9.3 million viewers, with 10.4 million watching at its peak.
It was also the largest audience for a non-NFL event ever on ESPN+.
The highest rating for an NHL game since 1994 was 8.9 million, according to Sports Business Journal. That figure was reached in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final in which the St. Louis Blues beat the host Boston Bruins.
Coincidentally, the Thursday game was also played in Boston, and one of the stars of the winning Canadian team was goalie Jordan Binnington, who led the Blues to the 2019 Stanley Cup victory.
Game 7 of the 1971 Stanley Cup Final, in which the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks, attracted 12.4 million viewers, per SPJ.
The viewership on Thursday was still far below the 27.6 million who tuned in to see Canada beat the United States in gold-medal hockey game of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
On Thursday, Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid scored 8:18 into overtime to lift Canada over the United States to the win the championship game of the inaugural best-on-best tournament. Binnington held the U.S. team to two goals on 33 shots.
Excluding both pro and college football coverage, the 4 Nations championship game was ESPN’s largest audience since the 2024 NBA Finals, in which the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks four games to one.
The four games of the 4 Nations Face-Off that ESPN showed saw an average viewership of 4.3 million.
–Field Level Media
