The Philadelphia Flyers are back in the playoffs, and the NHL gave them a primetime slot for their first postseason game since 2020 on Saturday night.
While some complained that there could be better matchups in that slot, the television ratings are in, and Game 1 between the Flyers and Penguins set some new records on ESPN.
According to ESPN, 2.1 million viewers tuned in to watch the Flyers take down the Penguins 3-2 on Saturday night. That was a 173% increase over ESPN’s first-round Game 1 average last year.
In fact, three Game 1s this weekend set new records, with 1.7 million viewers for Bruins vs. Sabres,1.9 million for Wild vs. Stars, and 2.1 million for the Battle of Pennsylvania.
Outside of Game 7s, which always bring in huge ratings, Flyers vs. Penguins became the most-viewed first-round playoff game ever on cable.
Coming into the playoffs, not everyone thought that the Battle of Pennsylvania would live up to the hype of recent postseason matchups. But this is bringing the intensity of the 2012 series thus far rather than the relative dud, but still exciting, first-round series in 2018.
The Flyers are one of a handful of teams in the NHL that will always bring in great ratings. It hasn’t been that way in recent years, though, as Philadelphia has sunk to irrelevancy since making the playoffs in 2020. But with Danny Briere and Keith Jones bringing this organization back into the picture, the fans are showing up not only in the building, but across the country as well.
Flyers-Penguins Game 1 broke a TV rating record
It didn’t even take until the playoffs for the viewers to pour in for this exciting Flyers team.
When the Flyers beat the Bruins in overtime on Easter Sunday, they set a record as the most-watched regular-season game in TNT’s NHL history outside of the Winter Classic with 1.2M viewers. Philadelphia and Boston also drew just under 1.1M viewers in their matchup on February 28 on ABC. It was a record-setting season, ratings-wise, for the NHL, and the Flyers had a hand in that.
Steve Jacot wrote before the playoffs started that the NHL needs the Broad Street Bullies back. The ratings are proving that point, and things should only continue to ramp up with the excitement around this young Flyers team.
The Flyers are one of the premier franchises in the NHL. The league is simply in a better place when its top products are performing well, and the proof is in the pudding right now.
We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but the NHL might need the Flyers more than ever right now as the playoffs continue.
The Eastern Conference is wide open, especially in the Metropolitan Division. While the Carolina Hurricanes have been perennial contenders, their style of play hasn’t led to playoff success. They’ve only made it to the Eastern Conference Final, winning one game in two series against the Panthers.
More importantly, in the vein of this article, the Hurricanes aren’t an exciting team. No one is moving their schedule around to make sure they get home in time for puck drop of the Hurricanes-Senators game, or even Hurricanes-Penguins for that matter. Sure, people may put the game on if there aren’t many other options, but it’s not appointment viewing.
But a Carolina team coached by former Flyers captain Rod Brind’Amour and put together by former Broad Street Hockey writer Eric Tulsky against an up-and-coming team that already has more high-end talent than the Hurricanes with a rock-solid goalie in net? Now that’s a storyline that people will want to tune in for.
