Record-breaking television audiences are tuning in to watch the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs during the opening two rounds, marking the highest viewership numbers in league history within the United States.
Female viewers are leading this unprecedented surge in hockey popularity.
According to TNT Sports, women’s viewership has climbed 66%, while ESPN documented a remarkable 106% jump, with much of this new audience consisting of viewers aged 18 to 34 discovering hockey during its most thrilling season.
“We see the numbers up everywhere,” said ESPN VP of production Linda Schulz. “(Hockey) is a particular challenge because sports fans tend to follow something that they themselves have participated in and hockey is one that is not as commonplace for people to have actually strapped on skates. I approach it with, if I get a new fan coming to hockey, what is going to keep them.”
According to Schulz and other broadcasting leaders, several combined elements are attracting new viewers. These include last year’s successful 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, February’s Olympics where U.S. men’s and women’s teams captured gold medals, exceptional gameplay quality, emerging young stars, and the widespread appeal of hockey romance series “Heated Rivalry” and “Off Campus” that have gained viral attention.
“It’s not any one thing,” said TNT Sports executive VP and chief content officer Craig Barry. “It’s the collective of the planets aligning that has shown dramatic increases in the female audience.”
According to league statistics, playoff games are drawing an average of 1.4 million viewers, representing a 63% increase from the previous year and 24% higher than the former record established in 2024. While some growth stems from Nielsen’s revised viewer measurement methods that have boosted numbers across television, hockey’s viewership trend has been climbing independently of these changes.
This upward trajectory started following the 4 Nations tournament, which NHL commissioner Gary Bettman credited with boosting viewership during the latter part of the 2024-25 season and continuing into playoff action. The Olympics further amplified this momentum, with the Milan Cortina Games generating exceptional ratings.
“The Olympics was a cultural moment,” said NHL chief operating officer Stephen McArdle. “We know that Olympic viewership does appeal to those demographics, to that female demographic, and so I think the Olympic bump that we saw was really in part influenced by that female Olympic audience.”
Determining the exact impact of “Heated Rivalry” proves challenging to quantify. While Schulz, who developed her sports fandom growing up in the Boston region, noted it doesn’t factor into her thinking, both networks and the league acknowledge the discussions surrounding these programs.
“We know that the fictional series are a gateway to our sport,” said McArdle. “We know that it opens doors to an interest in the sport of hockey, and it’s incumbent upon us to make sure that new audiences that are coming through those doors feel welcomed as they come in, and also that we help them find their way through the door.”
Technology plays a crucial role in engaging newcomers, Schulz explained, referencing overhead sky cameras that showcase the game’s speed and intensity, plus adding an on-ice camera operator to document emotional reactions such as players showing disappointment after penalty calls.
“It is incredible how that emotional draw, to me, is the real way to pull in a casual fan,” Schulz said. “It’s that balance of getting the feel of the ice through something like your aerial coverage and the feel of the player or the emotion of the player.”
The league has also embraced TikTok, where McArdle noted that many top-performing videos attracted more female than male viewers. A clip featuring Carolina’s Jordan Martinook losing a skate blade gained particular traction as content that resonated beyond typical highlight reels of goals, saves and body checks.
Social media platforms have successfully attracted younger audiences of both genders, while promotional efforts across ESPN, ABC, TNT, TruTV and HBO Max have encouraged live viewing across multiple platforms.
“That’s why it’s so important to meet them where they are,” Barry said. “That’s why our kind of strategy is put it everywhere in a simulcast capacity, so regardless of where you are consuming and digesting your content, in this particular case, NHL games, it’s there for you.”
