Ratings for the Stanley Cup Finals?

Question

STAMFORD, Conn. -- "The Detroit Red Wings' victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals opener was the highest-rated and most-watched cable telecast of the championship round in six years.

The Red Wings' 4-0 win on Saturday night had a 1.8 national rating -- drawing over 2.3 million viewers. The rating was the highest for an NHL game on Versus, topping the audience that watched the Penguins' Game 2 victory over Philadelphia in this year's Eastern Conference finals.

Only Lance Armstrong's final ride in the 2005 Tour de France had a higher rating in Versus history (2.1).

Versus will show Game 2 of the finals on Monday night before the series shifts to NBC for the remaining games.

The Game 1 rating is a 157 percent increase over last year's opener and a 100 percent rise from two years ago."

Who would of thought?

Answer 1

Now just imagine what the ratings would have been if the other half of Michigan actually watched it on VS. Most people I know watch on CBC. Myself included.

Answer 2

Hi.  thanks for the interesting statistics!  Yes, I am one of those rare women that love sports!!  Well, growing up in Detroit it's easy.....except for the Detroit Lions :(  

LET'S GO RED WINGS!!!!  

LET'S GO PISTONS!!

Answer 3

cool, the NHL cant even beat out a bicycle race....great news. talk to me when they get better rating than the super bowl then i'll be happy

Answer 4

You have two of the most popular franchises playing, along with the one player who the NHL promotes over all others combined, and that's what you get.

Unfortunately I don't expect the series to be any more compelling than last year. Detroit is that much better a team.

Answer 5

Good!

This is the best potential matchup for the NHL.

you have Detroit, a historically great team with one of if not the best record in the NHL this year (i havnt checked) and the Pens with Crosby. If the NHL doesnt get viewers with this matchup they never will. and to get good ratings on Versus is even better. Hopefully the NHL ends up back where it belongs on ESPN. i find it hard to understand why ESPN broadcasts arena football and lacrosse but ignores the NHL.

Hockey is fun to watch and Im happy for it.

atleast the wings are good for something...

GO BLUES!!!!!!!!! and Pens for the cup.

Answer 6

Ya  and the nay sayers will still not give hockey it's due among pro sports. But thats great news for hockey fans like us!

Answer 7

Do you have a link for that story?

Thats pretty impressive though, especially for Versus.  I wonder what the numbers will look like when its on a network that everyone has like NBC.

Answer 8

that's great news for the nhl!!!

Answer 9

Well it tells you alot aboot the star power of the Wings.Not a huge star power with the Ducks and Senators so no surprise there as well but Sid and the Pens getting the top two highest ratings tells me the NHL marketing is doing a h**l of a job with the young stars of this league.Plus it was Saturday night as well as a weekend holiday.Very good for the NHL.

Answer 10

Thats sick! Go NHL!!!

Answer 11

The march to conquer the NBAs ratings is still moving forward! Lets get those thugs and criminals!

Answer 12

That's the sort of things the NHL needs to hear especially after their lockout in the 05-06 year. They need some kind of momentum going into next season to attract some of the fans they lost when they did the lcok-out. Because of how much they advertised this season and how impressive the teams were this year they should have a lot of viewers next year.

Answer 13

Wow, Thats impressive! But to be honest I'm not surprised. The Wings and the PENS both have fairly large fan bases, and are both very popular teams. On one team you have the younger newer stars of the NHL, and on the other you have the Veteran and Dynamic Duo. But hey, I'm glad....Its about time people realized what a good sport hockey is.