It looks like a ton of fans did not care about watching the Stanley Cup this year.
The Vegas Golden Knights wrapped up their series win with a 9-3 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 5 Tuesday, but not a lot of people tuned in to watch it happen. The game reportedly averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.72 million U.S. viewers across TNT (2.47 million and TruTV (253,000).
TBS broadcasted the previous four games, but they could not do Game 5 due to scheduling issues with the MLB.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t just Game 5. The overall series averaged a 1.3 rating and 2.6 million viewers, down 43 percent on both fronts from last year, which made it the least-watched clinching game in the last 30 years.
Part of the problem was that it was the first Stanley Cup Final to fully air on cable since 1994.
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There is also context to be had with any game as Game 5 was never close. The Golden Knights lead 6-1 after two periods and it was clear that Florida never had a chance so many people either tuned out or saw the score online and decided to never tune in.
The numbers there still don’t look great for the NHL going forward, especially with the ratings the NBA just gave out.
The Denver Nuggets not only won their first NBA title, but they also won over national television audiences as well.
The NBA playoffs hit five-year ratings high after the Nuggets and Heat averaged 11.6m viewers over five-game Finals series, tripling the nearest competition.
This is huge news for the league as they know they can survive without having big-name players like LeBron and Stephen Curry to drive ratings.
The NHL needs to figure out something and do it quickly.
