4 Nations Championship Ratings Were Gargantuan; Set Incredible Record

I think it's been pretty clear for quite some time that the NHL hit an absolute home run with the 4 Nations Face-Off, but now we have numbers that confirm that it was indeed one of the biggest hockey games of all time.

Team Canada ended up defeating Team USA in overtime on Thursday night to win the tournament, which was essentially an exhibition tournament that replaced this year's All-Star Game to drum up excitement for the NHL's return to the Olympics in 2026 as well as the World Cup of Hockey, which will make its long-awaited return in 2028.

And drum up the excitement the 4 Nations Tournament did.

A classic game between the US and Canada in the preliminary round as well as all kinds of off-ice, geopolitical storylines helped to juice up what is already one of the most intense rivalries in sports and has been for years.

This led to ESPN's broadcast bringing in an unbelievable 9.3 million viewers here in the United States, which, according to Daily Mail, made it the most-watched non-Olympic hockey game ever.

If you add in Canadian viewership, the number jumps to 16.1 million, which is just shy of the mark set by Game 7 of last year's Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers (obviously that number was especially high in Canada, because it seemed like a Canadian team was going to win the Cup for the first time in 30 years, but… nope).

The NHL has to be popping bottles of champagne today. Especially as the Winter Classic and Stadium Series games are losing their luster as far as ratings are concerned, this gives the league a nice shot in the arm.

Now, it'll be interesting to see if this interest jolts regular season numbers back to life. I'm not so sure it will.

International games are a different animal, and while the tournament served to get some people hooked on hockey, I'm not sure how many will stick around with the 4 Nations over. 

Does the MLS see a big uptick in viewership after the World Cup? I'm not sure it does. 

We'll see how this pans out, but I can guarantee the league is trying to figure out how to bring back the 4 Nations in some way, shape, or form considering it was only meant to be a one-off because there's no question that it was a monumental success.