U.S.-Canada 4 Nations Face-Off final draws 9.3 million viewers, most-watched NHL-sanctioned game in decades

Take two proud hockey countries in a best-on-best final, add a massive dose of geopolitics into the equation, and then conclude the matchup with a historic overtime goal by the game’s best player. It’s a recipe for a historic viewership number — and that’s what we saw with Canada’s 3-2 overtime win over the United States on Thursday at the 4 Nations Face-Off in Boston.

The game drew an astonishing 9.3 million viewers on ESPN, per Nielsen. To put this in perspective: That tops Game 7 of the NHL Finals between Boston and St. Louis in 2019 which drew 8.9 million viewers on NBC — the most-watched NHL game since the league returned to broadcast TV in 1995.

In Canada, Sportsnet said the game averaged 5.7 million viewers and peaked at 7.3 million when Connor McDavid scored the OT winner. Add in 1.18 million viewers on TVA, as per Adam Seaborn of Better Collective, and the game averaged nearly seven million viewers. Canada’s population is 40 million.

So adding the two countries up: The game drew more than 16 million viewers in North America.

The earlier round game between the United States and Canada — a 3-1 win over Canada on a rock ’em sock ’em Saturday night in Montreal — averaged 4.4 million viewers on ABC and peaked with 5.2 million viewers in the 10:45 quarter-hour. That had been the most-watched non-Stanley Cup Final hockey telecast in the U.S. since a Blue Jackets-Bruins playoff game on NBC in 2019 that averaged 4.5 million. The NHL said the combined North American audience for last Saturday’s game was 10.1 million viewers.

The tournament clearly showed the desire of hockey fans who have been dreaming of best-on-best for years. Next stop for best-on-best: The Olympic Games next year in Cortina-Milan.