By Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final posted the biggest increase over the series opener in nearly a decade.
Monday’s Oilers-Panthers NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 2 averaged a 1.9 rating and 3.56 million viewers on ABC, up 53% in ratings and 46% in viewership from Panthers-Golden Knights on TNT, TBS and truTV last year (1.3, 2.45M). Compared to the previous Game 2 on ABC, Lightning-Avalanche two years ago, ratings increased 14% (from 1.7) while viewership declined 5% (from 3.75M). (The 2022 Game 2 aired on a Saturday night, when out-of-home viewing is higher.)
The Panthers’ win ranks as the highest rated Game 2 of a Cup Final since Blues-Bruins on NBCSN in 2019 (2.0). Its audience of 3.56 million trails only Lightning-Avalanche as the highest for a Game 2 since 2018 (Capitals-Golden Knights: 3.65M), with the caveat that all of the other games aired on cable.
Among series involving Canadian teams, only Bruins-Canucks in 2011 had a larger Game 2 audience in the past 30 years (3.57M). Keep in mind that is the only other Game 2 involving a Canadian team to have aired on broadcast television.
Compared to Game 1, Game 2 increased 24% in ratings and 14% in viewership from a 1.6 and 3.12 million. In viewership, that is the biggest jump from Game 1 to Game 2 of a Stanley Cup Final since 2015, when Game 2 aired directly after American Pharoah became the first horse since 1978 to win the Triple Crown. (In ratings, it is the biggest jump from Game 1 to Game 2 since 2010.)
While Game 2 improved upon Game 1 in the United States, the same was not the case in Canada. The combined North American figure — including Canadian networks CBC, SportsNet and TVAS — was 6.8 million, down from 7.1 million for Game 1.
Game 2 delivered the largest primetime audience of the day across all networks, not necessarily a sure thing given the Canada vs. Sun Belt matchup. (Game 1 was not even the most-watched sporting event of the day, trailing horse racing’s Belmont Stakes.)
In the key adult demographics, Game 2 delivered a 1.0 rating in adults 18-49, a 0.8 in 18-34 and a 1.2 in 25-54 — each up from last year (0.8, 0.7, 1.0) but down from 2022 (1.1, 0.9, 1.3).
