The NHL is in boom times with the ratings.

TNT Sports averaged 1.2 million viewers per game across TNT, TBS, truTV, and HBO Max for the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, a 68% increase from last season and its highest first round since adding the NHL in the 2021–22 season. Meanwhile, ESPN averaged 1.2 million viewers through its 22 opening-round games, up 69% from 2025 and the network’s most-watched first round since the NHL returned to its airwaves five years ago.

According to the NHL, the 1.2 million average across both networks marks the highest viewership for a Stanley Cup playoffs opening round in the U.S. on record.

There are several reasons the NHL is succeeding. One of the foremost explanations is that it is coming off an electrifying Winter Olympics, in which the United States defeated Canada in a thrilling 2–1 overtime gold-medal game. The NHL’s late regular-season ratings had previously experienced a post-Olympics bump. 

The NHL also barreled into the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with riches in storylines.

The headline was the Sabres, who broke the league’s longest playoff drought—14 years out of the postseason—after finishing first in the Atlantic. There was also the Battle of Pennsylvania, with the Penguins and Flyers facing off after both squeaked into the playoffs in the final beats of the regular season. The Mammoth made their first playoffs in only their second season as a franchise in Utah; the Golden Knights took the ice under the tutelage of John Tortorella, who was installed in Vegas with only eight regular-season games to go.

The series themselves also proved dramatic—most notably the Canadiens-Lightning matchup, which featured four overtime games in a seven-game series. Game 7 averaged 2.3 million viewers on TNT this past Sunday. TNT Sports said in a press release that this was the most-watched first-round Stanley Cup playoff game to air exclusively on cable.

Another possible reason the TV ratings are surging? The games are actually on TV. As Ethan Strauss posited on his Substack recently, the NBA putting playoff games on the Amazon Prime Video and Peacock streaming services might have opened up a lane for the NHL to capitalize. All of the NHL games are on traditional linear TV networks: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TBS, and TNT. For cord-cutters, games also stream via ESPN Unlimited and HBO Max. 

From a production standpoint, ESPN/ABC and TNT Sports have both had exceptional broadcast teams for the games and in the studio. ESPN host Steve Levy and TNT analyst Bruce Cassidy (who was let go by Vegas in March), in particular, have received plenty of praise.

As with every positive ratings story in recent months, the numbers have also been boosted by Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel metrics. These ratings, however, are well above the typical Big Data + Panel bump observed since the methodology was first adopted last fall.

Pablo Torre’s Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting returns the spotlight back to his award-winning work: Did the Clippers circumvent the NBA salary cap by funneling money to star Kawhi Leonard through a third-party company where owner Steve Ballmer was an investor?

According to the investigation by the team at Pablo Torre Finds Out, the now-defunct company Aspiration signed Leonard to a no-show, four-year, $28 million marketing deal. The Clippers owner had previously invested $50 million in Aspiration in 2021. The Clippers also signed a $300 million sponsorship deal with the company, which went out of business after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2025.

“This is the defining scandal of Adam Silver’s tenure as commissioner,” Torre told Front Office Sports in September 2025.

The question now is: What happens next with the Aspiration story? 

Ballmer has denied any knowledge of the $28 million endorsement deal between Leonard and Aspiration. In fact, Ballmer said he was “conned” by Aspiration—and ended up losing his entire $60 million investment.

Similarly, Leonard has denied any wrongdoing. The seven-time All-Star told the media he “invites” an NBA probe into the matter.

The NBA announced an investigation led by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, which the league has historically used for its biggest probes. But the regular season came and went without a ruling, as the investigation continues.

An NBA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to the league’s CBA, the Clippers could face penalties including fines, the forfeiture of draft picks, and/or the voiding of Leonard’s contract if it’s determined that the team circumvented the salary cap.

During an interview at FOS’s Tuned In last September, Silver vowed to “get to the bottom” of the story.

“I’m a lawyer. I believe in due process. I believe in fairness,” Silver told FOS editor-in-chief Dan Roberts. “We will be thorough, but we will begin with a presumption of innocence, not a presumption of guilt, which is what I keep reading about. Then we will follow the facts.”

Either way, the Clippers-Aspiration saga could result in changes to how players are compensated by third parties, the commissioner added.

“When this concludes, we’ll take a fresh look at our rules in terms of companies that players are investing in and owners,” said Silver. “We have rules now. We have lines. But there’s not a complete prohibition.”

At this point, it’s unclear when the NBA’s investigation will be completed, and a ruling on a potential punishment will be made. Torre’s Pulitzer—an award that has historically factored in the reporting’s impact as a qualification—has, however, thrust the story back into the spotlight as we await its ultimate effect on the Clippers, Leonard, and the NBA.

—Alex Schiffer contributed to this story.