Report: Penguins Ratings Best in NHL, but DOWN 30%

The Sports Business Journal released the season’s NHL TV ratings, and it’s a mix of good and bad news for both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the league.

The Penguins again had the highest ratings in the NHL and the third-largest audience in raw numbers behind Boston and New York. However, the Penguins’ ratings and the rest of the league’s TV viewership nosedived. The Penguins’ top-rated broadcasts were down 30%.

The apparent reasons for the drop were the full-length season compared to the 56-game sprint of 2020-21. Games in a short season mean more. The shortened season also featured division opponents exclusively.

Here’s the full report from Sports Business Journal.

The Pittsburgh Penguins games averaged a league-best 5.43 rating, and the dropoff to second and third was significant. The St. Louis Blues had the second-highest ratings at 4.28, and Buffalo was third at 3.78.

NHL TV Ratings:

And in the glass half-full, heart half broken category, the Florida Panthers TV ratings soared to the highest level ever. After more than 25 years in the NHL, the Florida TV ratings hit .46. That number has doubled in 10 years.

The expansion Seattle Kraken didn’t perform well, either. The Seattle market reached an average .96 rating. Anaheim had the worst TV ratings in the league at just .15.

Some good news for the NHL: the nationally televised games had a significant increase over the final season at NBCsn. ESPN, TNT, and ABC were up 18%, and the TNT broadcasts were up 29% over NBCsn.