The high-scoring Stanley Cup Final turned into a ratings win for ABC, which drew the highest viewership for the NHL’s championship round in seven years, the network announced Tuesday.
The Carolina Hurricanes’ six-game win over the Vegas Golden Knights attracted an average of 5.2 million viewers. The last time more people tuned in to see the Stanley Cup Final was in 2019, when 5.3 million on average watched the St. Louis Blues top the Boston Bruins in seven games.
The decisive game of the Hurricanes’ title run brought in 5.9 million, the highest for a finals Game 6 since 2019. The Game 6 rating more than doubled the audience that saw the Florida Panthers lift the cup after winning Game 6 against the Edmonton Oilers last year.
The 2025 finals were carried on the Turner networks. The Sunday clincher saw a 40% viewership rise from the last time ABC had the finals, in 2024, another series featuring the Panthers and Oilers.
The peak for the Sunday game was 7.2 million late in the contest as Carolina wrapped up the second championship in franchise history.
The first five games of the 2026 finals all featured at least six total goals, with both teams pulling off comebacks and two contests extending into overtime. Only the finale, a 3-0 Hurricanes victory, bucked the trend of both teams scoring multiple goals.
Ratings on ABC and ESPN for the entire 2026 playoffs were the highest ever for the company, averaging 2.2 million across 43 games, the networks announced. That figure was up 127% from 2025 and up 19% from 2024. ESPN aired the NHL playoffs from 1994-2002 plus each year since 2021.
–Field Level Media
