Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final achieves series-best viewership

The 2024 Stanley Cup Final has been turned on its head recently, with the Edmonton Oilers winning their last three games to draw level with the Florida Panthers at 3-3. And as the series gets more exciting, viewership continues to rise.

Friday’s broadcast of Game 6 on ESPN had 4.2 million viewers, according to an ESPN press release, which represents an improvement over all previous games in this series.

Fridays #Stanleycup The sixth final game reached a total of 4.2 million viewers💥

*Based on Nielsen Fast Nationals

More: https://t.co/2rCbwtb8m0 pic.twitter.com/kYXQC4yhUi

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) 22 June 2024

This is also an improvement over the last game of the 2023 Stanley Cup. On the negative side, however, it is a significant step backwards compared to other sixth Stanley Cup encounters in the recent past.

According to Sports Media Watch, Friday’s Game 6 viewership was the fifth-lowest for a Stanley Cup Game 6 in the last 30 years. The 2022 Stanley Cup Final between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning, which also lasted six games, drew 5.82 million viewers.

If you’re ESPN, you’ll notice that there are both positives and negatives to the viewership of Game 6. The fact that viewership has increased with each game in this series should inspire confidence.

On the other hand, it seems pretty clear that this year’s Stanley Cup will still rank quite unfavorably compared to other finals of the past.

With that in mind, it will be interesting to see what the ratings will be for the final game of the series on Monday night, the all-important Game 7.

(ESPN PR on XSports Media Watch)