They care more about the revenue at the venue. They’re getting that tv money regardless of viewership.
Mafant
How do you watch it? Aka, does this chart account for pirated streams?
glenvillequint
You mean the Boston/Chicago/Pittsburgh Classic?
enemy_of_anemonies
All the other random ass outdoor games killed anything “classic” about it. The stadium series just undercut any novelty the winter classic had. If you want more outdoor games, they should just do a winter classic weekend or something with a couple games as part of one event.
VanderHalifax
How does it compare to regular viewership for a similar game?
HarkeyPuck
When did the Stadium Series start?
Winter Classic for US teams
Heritage Classic for Canadian teams
That’s should be it.
edit: 2014 SS started, and the viewership slide
1minuteman12
The Winter Classic is an awesome event and should absolutely take place every year. The problem is that the NHL barely advertises it outside of two markets playing the game and also the stadium series (which also isn’t marketed) killed the novelty. If anything the NHL should abandon all-star weekend and turn the weekend leading in or out of New Year’s into Winter Classic weekend with multiple outdoor games but all of them in the same weekend.
NunsNunchuck
But how does it track versus nfl, ncaaf the same day at same time? Viewership across tv is down across the board
SwifferMopping
Also have found a lot of subpar match ups. The first few years had quite a few rivalry games to also keep it interesting. IMO since 2014 there’s a lot of games that it seems random or if it is a rivalry it’s one that has been a little colder in recent years.
LemmySixx
Putting the games in places where the ice melts is the problem. No one is watching a game with several delays
DingChavez89
As a new hockey fan, it pains me to see how little people give a shit about hockey. I’m not new to hockey just new to wanting to actually watch it. My aunt and uncles are huge pens fans and I’m near Tampa so I support the bolts. Never realized how dire hockey was. It’s probably my favorite sport next to soccer. Games still real, players are still real. Shame it doesn’t get more viewers.
paulybananas
It’s time to incorporate other markets into the annual classic. Recycling the same old teams makes the event redundant imo. I’m excited to see Seattle and Vegas get their chance to play in it next year.
tjplager32
I would say there’s 2 things they could improve on. Including more teams than just the usual few markets, and advertising it more. If the Blues aren’t in it, I usually don’t realize the winter classic is even happening until a day or so before. I follow every team on Twitter to see their news and stuff and it still sneaks up on me.
Goalier95
Keep the Winter Classic, get rid of the All Star Game.
meesanohaveabooma
I want to see different teams. Preferably my Red Wings 😅
KJMoons
It’s a cool idea, but most games I’ve watched just look like they’re playing at half speed. It has a very AHL vibe imo
REDitor_31
I’d still keep it going as long they actually make the teams a variety of teams. instead of just Penguins Bruins Blackhawks and Rangers in all the outdoor games
areadood
Jan 2 on TNT this year, was both a terrible date and television station.
KCardz89
Well shit when it’s the same teams and always American teams like fuck .
Stinky_Macaroni
Just in time for the Kraken to host it next year. Thanks.
someguyfromsk
They are not going anywhere since they still make a lot of money for the league.
An outdoor game can make $20million in profit vs $2-3 million for a regular game.
Just because people are not watching on TV doesn’t mean people aren’t going and spending.
alfondspond
Or, to look at it from Bettman’s perspective: “Winter Classic viewership was up 50% this year – the fans are loving what we’re doing!”
TheEmuWar_
What you mean? It’s trending up over the last 12 months
CoolBeansMan9
That’s still 2 million people watching a hockey game
Gmanplayer
Poor timing for it. Competes with world juniors and saturation of the same teams every year
InUnprecedentedTimes
Overall NHL viewership follows a similar trend. The game lacks personality and the media/presentation around it is awful
NBA-014
End it now
empiricalnick
this is accounting for traditional viewership which is down across the board. i watch hockey games primarily on my tablet, via vpn, through apps or extremely legal streams. i’m probably in the top 25% in terms of the amount i watch, and i’m not represented in any viewership chart. it also doesn’t account for international viewership, splitting your main audience across two countries artificially deflates these numbers.
that being said, no. i’ve been to two outdoor games and they’re insanely cool. they print money for the league, and they usually look sick on tv.
hockey will always be a niche sport, primarily because the cost to play. staying in its lane and continually improving the product, making it more accessible and not focusing on casuals will help grow the game organically.
do we really want the nhl to be as popular and have the same scrutiny as the nfl? it would change the game dramatically, imo for the worse.
MountainLog5291
You mean a hockey game in the middle of a baseball field, where the closest seats are 30+ yards away? Yeah, I want to pay $300 to see that!
Illustrious_Pickle71
I don’t want to watch the same 4 teams in it. Kills the interest for me
wagedomain
I like the idea of the winter classic but I HATE the cameras at them as it looks flat and two-dimensional and the ice looks like it’s 10 feet wide.
throwawayjoeyboots
I don’t know why we would need to kill it as an event. It’s never going to get the ratings as it was the first few years when it was new and novel.
As long as the stadiums are selling out and the fans are having fun, that’s what matters. It’s publicity for the league and they are making bank from it.
Don’t look at it as some kind of Super Bowl event dependent on getting hundreds of millions of viewers to justify its extravagance. Just look at it as a fun, once or twice a year novelty.
markkaschak
KILL ALL HYPE FOR THE WINTER CLASSIC WITH THESE THREE EASY STEPS!
1. Oversaturate the market with several other outdoor games! 2. Only let the same five teams play! 3. Machine Gun Kelly!
The solution is embarrassingly simple.
winnipeg_jets_
Maybe just stop showing the same five teams in rotation.
Flanny709
It always seems to have really good in person attendance. So maybe they don’t mind the TV viewership.
Also the NHL should put different teams in it. And host it in non-NHL cities.
thethwamp
Isn’t this just the NHL as a whole?
Puzzleheaded_Love_74
Noooooo !!!
Weeble317
Agree the SS has absolutely diluted the product…taking into account the shitty ASG, how about combining: make the ASG the WC played outdoors 🤔
AIGeneratedHuman
They are ruining the spectacle of it. I’d be more pumped for them if they were every few years to build them up. Alternate between the winter classic and a stadium series games if you have to.
It’s corporate greed just like Marvel and Star Wars.
0migs0
As a Penguins fan, stop putting the penguins on it!! Give us a fresh set of teams.
fatch0deBoi34
For those of us who attended the 2019 Colorado Avs stadium series debacle…. I salute you my fellow vets 🫡
Rip in P for those who didn’t make it out alive
Electric1000000
Winter classic at the cotton bowl for the Stars was an absolute spectacle
dukemantee
IMO if they play in stadiums they should play the game on a bigger rink – Olympic sized at least or even bigger than that. That would make it unique and much better for fans.
VancityPorkchop
The only way to get viewership is to make them exclusively Canadian matchups.
Italian_Suicide1365
One year it just won’t be profitable enough to continue this and the NHL will can this idea
Nawz157
I would like to see all teams play an outdoor game per season.
Even if you have to do like day/ night games in neutral stadium.
phonesmahones
I think the Winter Classic should stay, maybe one per conference, and the stadium series should go.
49 Comments
Kinda ruined the novelty with the Stadium Series.
They stopped marketing it like they used to
They care more about the revenue at the venue. They’re getting that tv money regardless of viewership.
How do you watch it? Aka, does this chart account for pirated streams?
You mean the Boston/Chicago/Pittsburgh Classic?
All the other random ass outdoor games killed anything “classic” about it. The stadium series just undercut any novelty the winter classic had. If you want more outdoor games, they should just do a winter classic weekend or something with a couple games as part of one event.
How does it compare to regular viewership for a similar game?
When did the Stadium Series start?
Winter Classic for US teams
Heritage Classic for Canadian teams
That’s should be it.
edit: 2014 SS started, and the viewership slide
The Winter Classic is an awesome event and should absolutely take place every year. The problem is that the NHL barely advertises it outside of two markets playing the game and also the stadium series (which also isn’t marketed) killed the novelty. If anything the NHL should abandon all-star weekend and turn the weekend leading in or out of New Year’s into Winter Classic weekend with multiple outdoor games but all of them in the same weekend.
But how does it track versus nfl, ncaaf the same day at same time? Viewership across tv is down across the board
Also have found a lot of subpar match ups. The first few years had quite a few rivalry games to also keep it interesting.
IMO since 2014 there’s a lot of games that it seems random or if it is a rivalry it’s one that has been a little colder in recent years.
Putting the games in places where the ice melts is the problem. No one is watching a game with several delays
As a new hockey fan, it pains me to see how little people give a shit about hockey. I’m not new to hockey just new to wanting to actually watch it. My aunt and uncles are huge pens fans and I’m near Tampa so I support the bolts. Never realized how dire hockey was. It’s probably my favorite sport next to soccer. Games still real, players are still real. Shame it doesn’t get more viewers.
It’s time to incorporate other markets into the annual classic. Recycling the same old teams makes the event redundant imo. I’m excited to see Seattle and Vegas get their chance to play in it next year.
I would say there’s 2 things they could improve on. Including more teams than just the usual few markets, and advertising it more. If the Blues aren’t in it, I usually don’t realize the winter classic is even happening until a day or so before. I follow every team on Twitter to see their news and stuff and it still sneaks up on me.
Keep the Winter Classic, get rid of the All Star Game.
I want to see different teams. Preferably my Red Wings 😅
It’s a cool idea, but most games I’ve watched just look like they’re playing at half speed. It has a very AHL vibe imo
I’d still keep it going as long they actually make the teams a variety of teams. instead of just Penguins Bruins Blackhawks and Rangers in all the outdoor games
Jan 2 on TNT this year, was both a terrible date and television station.
Well shit when it’s the same teams and always American teams like fuck .
Just in time for the Kraken to host it next year. Thanks.
They are not going anywhere since they still make a lot of money for the league.
An outdoor game can make $20million in profit vs $2-3 million for a regular game.
Just because people are not watching on TV doesn’t mean people aren’t going and spending.
Or, to look at it from Bettman’s perspective: “Winter Classic viewership was up 50% this year – the fans are loving what we’re doing!”
What you mean? It’s trending up over the last 12 months
That’s still 2 million people watching a hockey game
Poor timing for it. Competes with world juniors and saturation of the same teams every year
Overall NHL viewership follows a similar trend. The game lacks personality and the media/presentation around it is awful
End it now
this is accounting for traditional viewership which is down across the board. i watch hockey games primarily on my tablet, via vpn, through apps or extremely legal streams. i’m probably in the top 25% in terms of the amount i watch, and i’m not represented in any viewership chart. it also doesn’t account for international viewership, splitting your main audience across two countries artificially deflates these numbers.
that being said, no. i’ve been to two outdoor games and they’re insanely cool. they print money for the league, and they usually look sick on tv.
hockey will always be a niche sport, primarily because the cost to play. staying in its lane and continually improving the product, making it more accessible and not focusing on casuals will help grow the game organically.
do we really want the nhl to be as popular and have the same scrutiny as the nfl? it would change the game dramatically, imo for the worse.
You mean a hockey game in the middle of a baseball field, where the closest seats are 30+ yards away?
Yeah, I want to pay $300 to see that!
I don’t want to watch the same 4 teams in it. Kills the interest for me
I like the idea of the winter classic but I HATE the cameras at them as it looks flat and two-dimensional and the ice looks like it’s 10 feet wide.
I don’t know why we would need to kill it as an event. It’s never going to get the ratings as it was the first few years when it was new and novel.
As long as the stadiums are selling out and the fans are having fun, that’s what matters. It’s publicity for the league and they are making bank from it.
Don’t look at it as some kind of Super Bowl event dependent on getting hundreds of millions of viewers to justify its extravagance. Just look at it as a fun, once or twice a year novelty.
KILL ALL HYPE FOR THE WINTER CLASSIC WITH THESE THREE EASY STEPS!
1. Oversaturate the market with several other outdoor games!
2. Only let the same five teams play!
3. Machine Gun Kelly!
The solution is embarrassingly simple.
Maybe just stop showing the same five teams in rotation.
It always seems to have really good in person attendance. So maybe they don’t mind the TV viewership.
Also the NHL should put different teams in it. And host it in non-NHL cities.
Isn’t this just the NHL as a whole?
Noooooo !!!
Agree the SS has absolutely diluted the product…taking into account the shitty ASG, how about combining: make the ASG the WC played outdoors 🤔
They are ruining the spectacle of it. I’d be more pumped for them if they were every few years to build them up. Alternate between the winter classic and a stadium series games if you have to.
It’s corporate greed just like Marvel and Star Wars.
As a Penguins fan, stop putting the penguins on it!! Give us a fresh set of teams.
For those of us who attended the 2019 Colorado Avs stadium series debacle…. I salute you my fellow vets 🫡
Rip in P for those who didn’t make it out alive
Winter classic at the cotton bowl for the Stars was an absolute spectacle
IMO if they play in stadiums they should play the game on a bigger rink – Olympic sized at least or even bigger than that. That would make it unique and much better for fans.
The only way to get viewership is to make them exclusively Canadian matchups.
One year it just won’t be profitable enough to continue this and the NHL will can this idea
I would like to see all teams play an outdoor game per season.
Even if you have to do like day/ night games in neutral stadium.
I think the Winter Classic should stay, maybe one per conference, and the stadium series should go.