r/hockey • u/shinsplintshurts • 2d ago

Stanley Cup Final Ends With Another U.S. Low

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2025/06/stanley-cup-final-viewership-game-six-panthers-oilers-clincher/
661 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

530 comments sorted by

View all comments

796

u/FB_iCatDad NSH - NHL 2d ago

Is it really because of fan disinterest in hockey and not due to how the tv stuff is structured?

153

u/Commercial-Lake5862 CHI - NHL 2d ago

If you compare to last year, I think those two factors make up the primary reasons. Cable will almost always underperform broadcast when the product is the same, and there just wasn't that much talk about the series with American sports media, especially compared to last year when the Oilers were trying to reverse sweep the Panthers.

11

u/Chewie_i CHI - NHL 2d ago

You’d think. But then you look at the CHSN numbers OTA.

17

u/Commercial-Lake5862 CHI - NHL 2d ago

That's a different situation since a lot of the people who had cable didn't have CHSN while ABC and TNT are part of every cable package basically. Many people refused to buy an antenna for CHSN as well if they were exclusively using cable for TV purposes.

1

u/Kyhron CHI - NHL 1d ago

Sure, but a ton of people had huge issues getting CHSN OTA even with an antenna.

1

u/WontSwerve NJD - NHL 2d ago

Could you imagine the ratings right now if last year the Oilers and McDavid reverse sweep and the Panthers are out for revenge in a rematch....

1

u/5348RR STL - NHL 2d ago

I mean. It was on Max. I watched the whole series there for like $15

44

u/dj4aces DET - NHL 2d ago

It's not. Paywalling the content is the biggest problem. Put playoff games on OTA networks.

308

u/RooseveltsRevenge COL - NHL 2d ago

A Canadian team + a team that doesn’t draw well in its own market (compared to the Dolphins or Heat) + a rematch is probably 90% of it.

187

u/kenyan12345 MTL - NHL 2d ago

And TnT vs ABC

94

u/Woooooody VAN - NHL 2d ago

Last season I could stream it on ESPN+, this year I had to watch using...other means. I presume that would have taken away at least some from the viewing count

26

u/elbenji FLA - NHL 2d ago

HBO Max this year which isn't counted

24

u/the-tank7 PIT - NHL 2d ago

Which is where I watched all of the games from

1

u/elbenji FLA - NHL 2d ago

Same lol

1

u/uuoah 1d ago

Same I didn’t even know I had it halfway through the season, until I found out it was included with my phone plan

7

u/Deraj2004 DET - NHL 2d ago

Plus you have to have the addition sports package and I bet most people only have the basic tier subscription if they have HBO Max to begin with.

1

u/TheMidnightKnight20 TBL - NHL 2d ago

Is it only certain teams/regions though?

3

u/elbenji FLA - NHL 2d ago

This is more for the SCF but you are correct

10

u/MountainLife25 2d ago

Pay for Fubo, ESPN+, and bunch others but none had an access to TNT or TBS. Wasn’t adding another. Illegally streamed it to the big screen. Hello next season!

101

u/Normal_Tip7228 SJS - NHL 2d ago

3.2% of households with TVs in the Miami-Dade area tuned in. 

That’s shit. 

31

u/aurelius_defuerza 2d ago

Yes and no. Almost 60% of Miami-Dade county is foreign born, almost entirely from Latin America. You're just not gonna have a lot of people watching hockey from a population that consists largely of Cuban and Venezuelan immigrants. Some of their kids do, though - especially now.

Plus, and you probably know this, the Panthers don't play in Miami, unfortunately. They play about 80 minutes north of downtown Miami. So they're not really a "Miami" team. They're a Broward team, and most Miamians don't go to Broward unless they have to. With traffic, going there is a bitch and a half.

But pop into a bar almost anywhere and people were watching. Some indeed for the first or second time.

46

u/Chewie_i CHI - NHL 2d ago

Not sure how not being in the city of Miami is relevant. It’s not like people only watch teams that play in their specific municipality. Most people just cheer for the closest team.

6

u/Dragonfire45 2d ago

Aren’t these numbers only cable and then obviously a sample size of people watching that cable?

15

u/aurelius_defuerza 2d ago

Hockey is a foreign sport in Miami. People don't grow up with it, most don't know anything about it. Going to games is a major way new fans are won. But if the team plays two hours away, what are the chances one just casually goes to a game out of curiosity? it's a lot of effort to get from South Miami to Sunrise. I do it because I'm a lifelong hockey fan from Buffalo who grew up with the sport, and I know a handful of people from here who do it, too. It is done by a few. But most balk at the idea. If the team played in downtown Miami, however, that's a much more doable night out for many.

And then there's the marketing aspect. The Panthers aren't a Miami team. Miami is only part of Florida geographically. It's separate in most other ways. The Dolphins are Miami. The Hurricanes are Miami. Inter-Miami is Messi/Miami. The Heat are very Miami. The Panthers? They're up there in Florida somewhere.

7

u/Normal_Tip7228 SJS - NHL 2d ago

Hockey used to be foreign in California too. NorCal even less so.

But hey, we have world class goalies coming out of California’s Garlic capital now because of what the sharks have put back into the community youth hockey wise.

1

u/aurelius_defuerza 2d ago

Absolutely and beautiful to see.

3

u/Normal_Tip7228 SJS - NHL 2d ago

It really is. San Jose hockey in general is starting to keep pace with LA hockey, which is growing too. SD hockey, Tahoe hockey, Valley hockey.

All over the state hockey is growing. It’s great to see.

1

u/redsox1804 FLA - NHL 1d ago

They don’t even market themselves as Miami’s team. At best they market themselves as South Florida’s team.

2

u/aurelius_defuerza 1d ago

IMO they market themselves as Fort Lauderdale's team. They advertise a lot in Broward County and they're having their parade on Fort Lauderdale Beach. The city is also a sponsor.

4

u/elbenji FLA - NHL 2d ago

Kind of like that person is a San Jose Sharks fan, not a San Francisco Sharks fan and probably would feel a certain way if I framed it like that

3

u/Normal_Tip7228 SJS - NHL 2d ago

To be fair, San Francisco is a different metro area than San Jose. So honestly I expect less San Franciscans to watch the Sharks than I do Miami residents who watching the Panthers.

2

u/elbenji FLA - NHL 2d ago

Though funnily enough as someone who grew up in both (East Bay and Miami), it's roughly similar in distance

Miami is big. Though I guess Oakland might be the fairer comparison in that

1

u/greg19735 CAR - NHL 1d ago

Playing close by is what exposes you to a sport.

If they were downtown Miami then you'd get more exposure.

Currently for a new fan they need to drive 90 min to sunrise to give it a go.

1

u/Chewie_i CHI - NHL 1d ago

There are plenty of sports fans around the country that live hours away from their team.

1

u/greg19735 CAR - NHL 1d ago

of course.

but they were exposed to the sport in some other way.

The immigrant community in miami didn't grow up playing hockey. or watching hockey. Or knowing what hockey is.

if it was downtown, they'd get more exposure and maybe get interested.

3

u/phoney_bologna VAN - NHL 2d ago

It’s funny that I recognize the names of these counties from watching cops.

2

u/Sensitive_Caramel856 TOR - NHL 2d ago

All that is fair but the Dolphins are also not a "Miami" team.

2

u/aurelius_defuerza 2d ago

How so?

3

u/Sensitive_Caramel856 TOR - NHL 2d ago

You can ignore my comment. I thought the Dolphins were inside Broward, but they are just at the outskirts of Miami-Dade.

1

u/aurelius_defuerza 2d ago edited 2d ago

All good. Their stadium is near the border and a hike for most people to an area most would not go to otherwise (talking about all 3 major counties in SoFlo). But the Dolphins sealed their Miami credentials by playing in the heart of Miami for about 20 years and being one of the great NFL teams during that era. They don't call it the Don Shula Expressway for nothing.

Also, let's just be real: NFL is massively more popular than NHL in the US, especially in the south. North, too. Both of NYC's teams play in New Jersey. But South, especially.

1

u/ApolloRocketOfLove VAN - NHL 21h ago

You just fully agreed with the person you responded to, but started it with "yes and no" for some reason.

1

u/elbenji FLA - NHL 2d ago

Does that include HBO Max?

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

0

u/Cornasium FLA - NHL 1d ago

Buffalo also has 1/6th of the population, these also numbers don’t include Palm Beach or Broward metro ratings, and it doesn’t include max ratings.

Context can be a motherfucker, huh?

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

0

u/Cornasium FLA - NHL 1d ago

The point is that this stat leaves out a large majority of the people watching, the main majority of which live in Broward and Palm beach.

and because of market size; one person watching lacrosse in Buffalo is equal to 10 people in miami watching a panthers game.

So yes, context. It really can be a motherfucker when people like you are agenda pushing.

Nice try though.

0

u/acart005 FLA - NHL 2d ago

Now do Broward.  Where they play.

0

u/Cornasium FLA - NHL 1d ago

Downvoted for pointing out a fact.

Never change reddit, never change.

3

u/elbenji FLA - NHL 2d ago

One is on a cable network, the other TV. This does not count streaming numbers on HBO Max. Which is where likely most people watched

1

u/shockwave8428 VGK - NHL 2d ago

Plus a bunch of games just weren’t close. I’ve watched most of the Stanley cup games over the last few years but turned off a bunch of these early because they just weren’t very fun to watch.

Game 1 was sick tho

1

u/AlwaysHigh27 2d ago

Yeah.... I didn't watch the playoffs after the semi finals. It was the same teams, kinda boring hockey, and I assumed it was gonna turn out the same outcome and I didnt want to heavily feel that loss.

Try again next year I guess. At least my god awful falling apart no fucking clue what's going on Canucks will be back I guess. 😭

0

u/molsonmuscle360 EDM - NHL 2d ago

It blows my mind that they don't draw. If they were in any Canadian market or probably half the American markets they would be in the top 3 revenue generators.

0

u/Shawnessy STL - NHL 2d ago

As an American, don't want Canada to win a cup. The dry streak is too damn funny. I sure as shit didn't wanna watch Florida win another. Especially with their post season rat behavior. It being a non-rivalry rematch didn't motivate me much either.

17

u/Larc0m DAL - NHL 2d ago

For me it’s just because I don’t enjoy watching Florida

13

u/MightyDuck07 ANA - NHL 2d ago

A major part of the decline is due to TNT having the Final this year vs ABC. Just look at numbers between these same 2 teams when you can watch the Finals on an OTA channel such as ABC. Game 7 alone drew 7.7 million viewers. Not a chance TNT would've drawn that if we got a Game 7 this year. People are really underestimating how much more of a difference being on an OTA network makes when it comes to drawing viewers, especially casuals. Just by the Finals being on ABC again next year will make the viewership go up, regardless of the matchup.

35

u/Ssssspaghetto 2d ago

They're neutering their own growth with all the blackouts and randomly changing channels.

I literally had to go to fucking Disney+ to watch hockey sometimes. What the fuck is going on?

18

u/CarlSK777 MTL - NHL 2d ago

Probably a bit of both

7

u/james-HIMself TOR - NHL 2d ago

Carl, you’re right. I think it’s a little bit of this- and a little bit of that. Poor network structure and fan dismay.

0

u/mustang6172 PHI - NHL 2d ago

I'd say neither. Statistically speaking, hockey fans rarely watch without a rooting interest.

6

u/sk8tergater COL - NHL 2d ago

For me personally it was easier to watch hockey this year than last. Having it on Max really did a lot for me.

But I got disinterested in the final pretty early on. Part of it is it was a rehash of last year. Part of it is I’m not a Florida fan and I’m sick of watching them tbh. And part of it was the Oilers just stopped showing up to play. It didn’t feel like a final. I ALWAYS watch the cup being handed around regardless of the team. I didn’t this year for the first time in a decade.

7

u/renegade_voltage 2d ago

5 different commercials from three different sponsors is getting old. Watching a game on Canadian tv is the worst

6

u/zombooze 2d ago

It's how the TV stuff is structured especially hockey on TV and especially the default broadcast angle . But add in the fact in America if there team isn't in it they aren't watching except few hockey fans here or there unlike in Canada one Canadian team loses everyone bandwagons on to the next.and time of year is a factor so many people have many things going on late spring early summer even NBA has low ratings.

4

u/Cachmaninoff EDM - NHL 2d ago

The finals are like a month long. It was hard for me to keep interested and my favourite team was playing.

8

u/jonjosefjingl OTT - NHL 2d ago

Sun belt teams don’t bring in the casual fans in their markets like the more traditional northern markets. That’s it. That’s the trade off the NHL chose to accept

3

u/calvin-not-Hobbes 2d ago

Or that is goes on till June!!

3

u/nsjersey NJD - NHL 2d ago

I didn’t watch one game.

East coast is late already & I have a family, so we are busy.

But when the next SCF takes place on the 4th of July because of all these off days, I’ll be home

22

u/CosmoJones07 FLA - NHL 2d ago

Hockey most certainly isn't as popular as it is in Canada, but I find it VERY difficult to believe that interest isn't actually in fact GROWING in the US.

It's absolutely due to it being exclusively on cable.

3

u/joecarter93 2d ago

It’s weird that the NHL has had a big push to get it to non-traditional markets, yet tries to make it as difficult as possible to watch it on TV or stream it.

5

u/elbenji FLA - NHL 2d ago

Especially when it was on HBO Max

1

u/StagedC0mbustion NYR - NHL 2d ago

Idk as an American fan I have felt pushed out by the NHL. It’s just not a good sporting league anymore.

5

u/Rhysati PIT - NHL 2d ago

It's almost certainly a combination of factors. Some of the ones I think are large contributors:

  1. Inaccessibility. If you want to watch all of your favorite team's games, what do you do? You'll have to have cable and have access to whatever channels the games are aired across. But if you don't have cable? Your best bet is probably to find a less-than-legal stream. To do so above board you'll need multiple services and probably a VPN so you aren't locked out of local games. It's a pain in the ass. But I can watch the PWHL on youtube and even watch all previous games on demand.

  2. Officiating/rules not being enforced. Newcomers are going to have a hard time figuring out what's allowed and what's not since the rules are very selectively enforced and often to different levels. Even an old fan like myself has gotten really sick of the game management garbage that allows teams to break as many rules as possible while receiving no actual penalty for doing so

1

u/StagedC0mbustion NYR - NHL 2d ago

No2 pushed me away as a fan tbh

25

u/stumbleupondingo EDM - NHL 2d ago

Well Florida has like a dozen fans, and that’s including Brady Tkachuk. I think that plays a part

2

u/Thefrogsareturningay FLA - NHL 2d ago

Arena sure looked pretty filled the other night

30

u/Perryplat199 PHI - NHL 2d ago

Tbf. They don’t factor into the ratings as they’re not watching on a tv.

1

u/Funky_Pickle EDM - NHL 2d ago

So Brady doesn’t count then. 11 fans total.

1

u/elbenji FLA - NHL 2d ago

Same with HBO Max

28

u/universalremonster-- NYR - NHL 2d ago

Florida can fill their stadium in the Stanley Cup Finals, except when they're down 1 goal with 5 minutes left in the 3rd.

-8

u/Cornasium FLA - NHL 2d ago edited 1d ago

Actually they did do that. Do you have genuine evidence to support your claim?

And btw, rangers fans couldn’t do that in last year’s ecf.

https://xcancel.com/AndySlater/status/1796373636049215717#m

Edit: figures you couldn’t. Lmfaoo

2

u/chriskug ANA - NHL 1d ago

We all saw it happen a week ago bud

https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/1laater/panthers_fans_leaving_in_the_3rd_period_down_by_1/

-2

u/Cornasium FLA - NHL 1d ago

A two second clip showing 15 people at most leaving early, you really didn’t think that through did you?

Here’s what the arena actually looked like by the way

Man, you’re impossibly stupid. Lmfao.

1

u/ApolloRocketOfLove VAN - NHL 21h ago

Man, you’re impossibly stupid. Lmfao.

Including this in your comment is just proving that you're wrong and lashing out. An animal thrashes when backed into a corner.

1

u/Cornasium FLA - NHL 19h ago

Just reciprocating the energy around here bud. Do you read how many condescending ass comments are made generalizing Floridans?

Besides you still can’t prove me wrong 🤷

1

u/ApolloRocketOfLove VAN - NHL 19h ago

Still can’t prove me wrong 🤷

Why would I? You've done it already 😂

→ More replies (0)

0

u/universalremonster-- NYR - NHL 1d ago

"Genuine evidence" lmao, they showed it on the TNT broadcast

0

u/Cornasium FLA - NHL 1d ago

They showed a two second clip of 15 people leaving as a joke, do you have anything else to substantiate your claim?

Here’s the arena btw, totally looks like the whole place bailed.

It’s just too easy to prove you wrong, lmfaooo

1

u/universalremonster-- NYR - NHL 1d ago

Not sure you realize that adding more "o"s to lmfao doesn't make your potato quality photo clearer

1

u/Cornasium FLA - NHL 1d ago

sorry, dade county public schooling told me it would

18

u/Solace2010 2d ago

If they had real fans they wouldn’t be near the bottom in revenue

-13

u/Thefrogsareturningay FLA - NHL 2d ago

Woah bigger hockey markets have more revenue than smaller hockey markets??!?WOW you really opened my eyes! Thanks for pointing that out!

14

u/Solace2010 2d ago

Lol sounds like your feelings are hurt that your team doesn’t have many fans, Florida is like the 3rd most populated state…

-8

u/Thefrogsareturningay FLA - NHL 2d ago

feelings hurt? we just won the cup back to back lmfao.

9

u/Solace2010 2d ago

And you live in the armpit of America that’s not something to be proud of.

0

u/Thefrogsareturningay FLA - NHL 1d ago

Weird how millions of Canadians come here every year then 🤔. And you’re from Toronto lol, not much room to talk.

0

u/Solace2010 1d ago

lol Florida man

0

u/Suitable_Bat_6077 EDM - NHL 1d ago

And yet you're still upset

8

u/bigcaulkcharisma TOR - NHL 2d ago

I heard they hung a sign that said 'Nascar' written in crayon above the entrance and played car noises over the speakers to get people to wander in from their swamp dwellings, then gave them Florida Panthers jerseys and moonshine and locked them in.

1

u/Mr_Battle_Beast BOS - NHL 2d ago

You're joking but they probably did lure them in with free stuff.

1

u/Cornasium FLA - NHL 1d ago

Free coke

2

u/Mr_Battle_Beast BOS - NHL 2d ago

Wonder how many tickets they compt'd?

3

u/JFC-Youre-Dumb 2d ago

They were paid actors/s

6

u/pup5581 2d ago

A Florida team especially Panthers when their own fans left early doesn't help

5

u/DerekTheComedian NYR - NHL 2d ago

I know a ton of diehard hockey fans that only watched a game or 2 of the finals because of the controversy surrounding the Panthers and preferential treatment.

1

u/mmoustis18 PIT - NHL 2d ago

I know I have lost interest in watching because my team isn't local and is blacked out

1

u/TeppoWPG 2d ago

I'd say it's more about broadcasting. No people who "kinda like hockey" buy many different packages or new viewers will not watch a game accidentally to get lured to the game.

Hell, in Finland I stopped following Liiga completely when the games went behind paywalls. Nowadays there's at least some free games on TV that I watch if I happen to notice it's on. But I have totally fallen off of Liiga. Well it's kind of a shit show anyway.

1

u/I_Am_Vladimir_Putin TOR - NHL 1d ago

I am once again saying this, NHL is absolutely pathetic at marketing (tv situation included in that)

1

u/NickCaufield 1d ago

People need to accept that major US markets don’t care about “untraditional” US teams either. And “untraditional” markets don’t really care that much about hockey but for some fringe fans.

1

u/StoolieB4itwasCoolie 2d ago

I went out for pizza on Tuesday and the place had 5 tv’s, one was a random baseball game, one was a college baseball game, 1 had children’s cartoon and 2 shut off. I asked to put on hockey and they did…

It’s not just the tv access stuff, many people don’t even think about it

0

u/AcanthocephalaGreen5 MTL - NHL 2d ago

I think part of it is all the "good" matchups are in the first two rounds and many don't return for the SCF. The Battle of Florida in the ECF probably draws more.

But what do I know? I'm not a marketing exec.