Photo Credit: Bob DeChiara - USA Today Sports
NBC: Blues-Bruins Score Most-Streamed Stanley Cup Final Game 1 Ever
May 28, 2019
NBC Sports said the May 27 National Hockey League Stanley Cup Final between the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins was the most-streamed Game 1 in history.
NBC said the match had an “average minute audience” of 115,500 viewers and 19.9 million live minutes, up 37% and 24%, respectively, compared to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2018.
NBC said the Memorial Day evening telecast showcasing the Bruins’ come-from-behind 4-2 victory over the Blues in Boston averaged 5.38 million viewers across NBC, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app, up 2% vs. last year’s Game 1 (5.28 million) and up 9% vs. 2017 (4.92 million).
It was the most-watched Game 1 in four years and NBC Sports’ third-most watched Game 1 since it began broadcasting the Stanley Cup Final in 2006, according to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.
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The match trails only two other Game 1 matches in NBC Sports’ 14-year history broadcasting the Stanley Cup Final (Bruins vs. Chicago Blackhawks, 6.31 million, 2013; Blackhawks vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, 5.58 million, 2015).
Regardless of the strong TV viewership, Game 2 of the Cup Final will only be streamed (no broadcast) on NBCSN, the standalone SVOD platform re-launched by NBC Universal in 2019.