Backed by a record 93 postseason games, the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs was NBC Sports Group’s second-most watched since it began airing the NHL in 2006.
The postseason averaged 1.44 million viewers across NBC, NBCSN and CNBC, only topped on NBC by last year’s 1.47 million. Overall, it was the fourth-most watched on any network in the past 20 years (1996, 1997 were higher on Fox/ESPN).
The five-game Stanley Cup Final, where the Los Angeles Kings defeated the New York Rangers to win their second title in the last three years, averaged just over 5 million viewers across NBC and NBCSN, only the fifth Final round since 1994 to average over 5 million. Overall, it was the fifth-most watched Final, with the high mark remaining last year’s Final between Chicago and Boston (5.75 million).
Friday night’s deciding fifth game, which the Kings won in double overtime, drew 6 million viewers to NBC.
