While it wasn’t the happy ending many Canadians had hoped for, it certainly was a tremendous draw.
Sportsnet claims that an average minute audience of 7.55 million Canadians ages two and up watched Monday’s seventh and final game of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. They saw the Florida Panthers win their first ever NHL championship, edging the Edmonton Oilers 2-1.
Of the 7.5M+ total, overnight estimates show that the game reached 1.93 million streamers on Sportsnet+, making it the digital end’s most-streamed game ever. The total Sportsnet tally, broadcast specialty plus digital, swelled to 3,554,000. The rest of the Canadian audience tuned in on CBC (a further 2,878,000) and Citytv (1,083,000).
In addition, more Canadians watched the game Monday night on French broadcaster TVA.
Sportsnet claims that Game 7 was the second most-watched NHL game ever in Canada, at least since modern people meters began recording data in 2009. The “share” — the per cent of all Canadians watching TV Monday night — reached an astounding 82.5 per cent.
Prior to the puck drop, Sportsnet’s pre-game episode of Hockey Central — from 8 p.m. ET to 8:23 — drew an average audience of 4.1 million viewers. (Source for Monday’s overnight estimates: Numeris; Jun 24, 2024; Ind.2+; RSM channels; Total Canada.)
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That 7.55 million total was a big jump from the number of viewers who tuned in to Game 6 the Friday before. That tally was the second most-watched game of the series, soaring to 4.74M+. Most saw that game on Sportsnet national and digital (2,336,000) with others watching on CBC (1,850,000) and Citytv (558,000).
The fact that the “hometown” favourites — the Edmonton Oilers — dropped the first three games and then came roaring back to take the next three — was the perfect set up for Monday. Viewers who did not watch a minute of the earlier playoff games jumped on the bandwagon in hopes of seeing a Canadian NHL team win for the first time in 31 years. Alas, it was not to be — but Rogers will take that 7.55 million viewer mark to the bank just the same.
