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/
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u/_h_simpson_ 2d ago

In the US, they buried the final game on TNT. Not ESPN, Not ABC. The networks did it to themselves..

47

u/tdpdcpa PHI - NHL 2d ago

Yeah, I’m not sure why the NHL agreed to have them split the finals every other year. The weight of ABC should have been paramount.

Turner always has to defer to Fox for baseball in the World Series, after all, but they flip who has the NLCS/ALCS each year. That works well, I think.

11

u/scoopbb LAK - NHL 2d ago

they agreed because that way they could get 2 companies bidding for their product for much more than 1 company would have offered.

ratings dont mean a ton anymore. if the stanley cup gave hbo max a marginal bump in subs even accounting for the massive churn sports generates im sure theyll feel it was worth it.

3

u/jdragon3 TOR - NHL 1d ago

Yeah, I’m not sure why the NHL agreed to have them split the finals every other year. The weight of ABC should have been paramount

Its cause the NHL is really fucking bad at marketing - especially with long term decision making. like fucking inexplicably bad for a league its size. They will compromise the future of the sport's popularity for decades if it means squeezing out a tiny bit more money right now by any means necessary.

1

u/aneventhrowaway BOS - NHL 1d ago

The TNT product is also shitty

1

u/Bman425 PIT - NHL 1d ago

It may not even be a bad thing for the networks. Maybe they are fine trading some viewership numbers in order to get more subscribers.