4 Nations Final Is Most Watched NHL Game in U.S.

The NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off overtime thriller drew more than 16 million viewers across North America Thursday night.

ESPN averaged 9.3 million viewers, which surpassed the previous record of 8.9 million for the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, according to Sports Business Journal. That makes it the most watched NHL game ever in the U.S. (The Canada-USA gold medal game at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 got 27.6 million viewers on NBC.)

In Canada, Sportsnet averaged 5.7 million viewers with a total of 10.7 million viewers, making it the network’s second most-watched hockey game ever. The French-language broadcast, which brought in about a million viewers on TVA during the Saturday game between the two sides, has still not reported its audience size for the final.

The game finished in dramatic fashion with a scoreless third period that sent the game into overtime, where Canada won 3–2. Sportsnet viewership peaked at 7.3 million in overtime.

The Saturday night U.S.-Canada game in Montreal averaged 5.7 million viewers north of the border on Sportsnet and TVA, and 4.4 million viewers in the U.S. on ESPN, the most-watched non-Stanley Cup Final broadcast since 2019. The U.S. game versus Sweden averaged 1.8 million viewers on TNT and truTV, and the matchup against Finland averaged close to 1.5 million viewers on ESPN.

The Sweden and Finland games were even impressive audiences for the NHL in the regular season. While the Stanley Cup sees healthy ratings—the 2024 game got its best numbers in five years with 7.7 million average viewers for Game 7—the league pulled in its worst viewership ever for the 17-year-old Winter Classic this year. The U.S.–Finland clash outdrew last year’s All-Star Game.

The heightened political tensions leading up to the final game on Thursday night certainly worked in ESPN and Sportsnet’s favor. The leaders of each country have delivered jabs and policy threats over trade and annexation in recent weeks, which has led to booing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Canadian sporting events.

Whether for the politics, the fist fights, the off-ice chirping from players, or just the spectacle of it all, the buzz around the game was palpable, especially from non-hockey fans. “Don’t even watch hockey but I’m ready to run through a wall for Team USA,” posted one user on social media.