2024 Stanley Cup Final Viewership Trends

The viewership for Game 4 of this year’s Stanley Cup Final was surprisingly high.

If you had looked at Sportico after Game 1, it might have seemed like only a handful of people watched the Florida Panthers shut out the Edmonton Oilers. However, Game 4 saw an average of 3.1 million viewers, which is a significant increase from last year’s overall Final average of 2.6 million. According to ESPN Press Room, these numbers are already better than those from the 2023 matchup between the Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights.

Was this spike in viewers for Game 4 just a one-time thing? Or are more people getting excited to see Connor McDavid and Aleksander Barkov battle for the Stanley Cup?

Why Are More People Watching?

Sportico suggests that Game 1 had low numbers because it aired on a Saturday night, typically the least-watched night of TV during the week. They also mentioned that having a Canadian team in the Final isn’t great for U.S. viewership since only Miami is tuning in to watch on American TV channels.

Interestingly, even though Game 4 was also on a Saturday night and didn’t attract as many viewers as Games 2 and 3 during the week, it still managed over three million viewers . The first four games of this year’s Stanley Cup Final averaged about 3.3 million viewers, which is up by 25% compared to when Florida played Vegas last year.

So what’s causing this increase? It’s not entirely clear yet. Sports Business Journal points out that there were no simulcasted games in the first round of the playoffs last year, but there were over ten this year . This likely helped boost early viewership numbers.

Fans might think it’s all about star power too. Even casual hockey fans know McDavid is one of the best players around, so watching him try to win his first Stanley Cup would naturally draw more eyes to their screens. Plus, the Panthers’ physical style makes for exciting matches.

Game 5 will be crucial down in Sunrise . We’ll have to wait and see if these viewing numbers keep climbing.

What do you think? Will more people tune in next time?