Last Saturday’s fight-filled 4 Nation Face off tilt between Canada and the USA was a ratings winner on both sides of the border.
After the anthem-booing was over last Saturday in Montreal, an overnight, estimated, 2,879,000 hockey fans ages 2+ watched the game on Sportsnet National+. The United States took the first head-to-head tilt between the two hockey powers in over eight years by a score of 3-1.
That same night, Citytv showed a simulcast of the ABC feed of the game, drawing 920,000 more viewers. Add the two windows on the same game together and total take in Canada last Saturday swells to an estimated 3.8 million.
The Saturday game was also a hit in America. According to Sportspro+, ESPN’s coverage of Team USA’s victory drew an average minute audience of 4.4 million viewers on ABC. The American audience peaked at 5.2 million. That makes it the most-watched hockey game in America since Game Seven of last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers (drawing 7.67 million viewers).
Viewers were into this 4 Nations series even before the two top hockey nations hooked up. On Thursday, Feb. 13, 1,135,000 viewers 2+ were estimated to have watched USA vs. Finland on Sportsnet National+. One day earlier, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, the 4 Nations Face off between Canada and Sweden drew an overnight, estimated total of 2,075,000 on Sportsnet National.
This Thursday in Boston, Canada and The US meet in the finals. Could that game top 5 million in Canada? As Bob Cole would have said, “O baby.”
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