While teams skate toward the Stanley Cup, the National Hockey League (NHL) netted a new ratings record for the 2023–24 regular season.
Appearing Thursday on "The Claman Countdown," the league's commissioner touted the game's growth and continued success.
"Hockey as a game is in a great place," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said on "The Claman Countdown." "The business has never been stronger from an attendance, from a ratings standpoint, and in terms of, I think we have over 70 national partners, it's a good time to be associated with the game."
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The NHL saw an eight-year high for regular season ratings. Across platforms like ABC, TNT and ESPN, viewers per game jumped 8% year over year to an average of 504,000, host Liz Claman reported, citing Nielsen data.
Bettman attributed the trend to several developments in the sport.
"One, over the last three years, our ratings have increased at least as much as you've indicated, if not more, for each of the years. I think the most important thing is what takes place on the ice," he told Claman. "Our game has never been more competitive, has never been faster, the players have never been more skilled, and the game's never been more entertaining and more unpredictable. I think we either set a record or we're close to come-from-behind victories in the regular season."
"It starts with the game itself, and we've had tremendous efforts over the last few years to be as a game at all levels more welcoming, more inclusive — a lot of youth programs, reaching out to underserved communities — and so it's a combination of everything we've been doing over the years that has grown," Bettman added. "Pointing to the ratings, I think Disney, ESPN, has done a great job, as has Turner, TNT, which has been after our switchover from NBC."
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The regular season passed its ratings high on to the postseason. The first round of Stanley Cup Playoffs broke away with a 3% ratings increase year over year with an average of 798,000 viewers per game, according to Sports Business Journal.
Although the Stanley Cup is still up for grabs, Bettman noted one thing is clear: "Hockey fans are the most passionate."
