Columbus blue jackets were Sorely lacking national exposure, they needed their first outdoor game to be a TV ratings home run during the 2025 NHL Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium.
Well, the puck cleared the outfield wall and continued to climb Saturday at Ohio State’s frozen Horseshoe despite a delayed evening start for ESPN’s main channel to air the conclusion of an SEC college basketball game before the Jackets’ 5-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in frigid, windy conditions.
A game that drew the second-largest crowd to ever attend an NHL game at 94,751 strong also set ratings records, including a viewership of 1.6 million that peaked at 1.8.
The game was also the most viewed cable broadcast of an NHL Stadium Series matchup, which are outdoor extravaganzas usually held a couple months after the NHL’s outdoor Winter Classics are played on or around New Year’s Day.
The Blue Jackets’ triumph over the Red Wings, which included a theme of honoring Johnny Gaudreau and his family, was also the most watched Stadium Series matchup since 2019 regardless of broadcast platform and drew a 16% higher viewership than two 2024 Stadium Series games that were each televised by ABC rather ESP N.million and was the most-viewed regular season game since ESPN re-acquired NHL broadcasting rights in 2021.
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