NHL Stanley Cup, NBA finals post record-low viewership count

Panthers @ Golden Knights; Game 5, 6/13 | NHL Playoffs 2023 | Stanley Cup Final

Live sports are facing a challenging period as both the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals concluded this week with record-low viewerships.

The 2022-23 Stanley Cup final averaged 2.6 million viewers across TNT and TruTV, down 43 percent from last year’s six-game finals on ABC and the lowest for a Cup Final since 2007. Game 5 alone only drew 2.72 million viewers, the lowest audience for a Game 5 of the Cup Final in 29 years, excluding the pandemic-era series.

The Vegas Golden Knights securing their first NHL title with a 9-3 triumph over the Florida Panthers in Game 5 on Tuesday didn’t help the NHL’s viewership issues. Overall, NHL postseason viewership fell 10 percent from last year, with an average of only 1.23 million viewers tuning in.

Some reasons could factor into the low viewership numbers. Firstly, the final was airing exclusively on cable for the first time since 1994, when the Vancouver Canucks defeated the New York Rangers. Cable games have historically had lower ratings than broadcast games, as fewer homes have access to cable channels.

Viewership numbers typically increase as a series progresses. A shorter series, like this year’s five-game series, is expected to have lower overall numbers than last year’s six-game series. This year’s final was not a close match as the Golden Knights quickly led the game 6-1 in two periods.

Declining NBA Finals viewership

The NBA Finals also concluded on a similar note earlier this week, although there was some notable growth. The average viewership for the five-game series was 11.64 million, six percent lower than last year’s Finals. This figure makes the Heat-Nuggets series one of the least-watched NBA Finals in over a decade.

Apart from the pandemic-affected seasons, the NBA Finals haven’t had such low viewership since the Spurs-Cavaliers matchup in 2007, with 9.29 million viewers.

However, Game 5 saw a positive rating as 13.08 million people watched the Denver Nuggets win the title on ABC. The number was the highest at 11 p.m. ET when 17.88 million viewers tuned in, making it the most-watched Game 5 of the Finals since 2019. This figure was a one percent increase compared to last year’s Game 5 of the Finals series, which recorded 13.02 million viewers.

Besides the shorter series, the low viewership count might be attributed to Denver and Miami not having significant media markets. Denver ranks 14th and Miami ranks 16th among NBA cities in market size.