Resounding Success: US Men’s Hockey Conquers Olympic Gold and Breaks Audience Records
Jack Hughes’ overtime goal, which secured the Olympic gold medal for the United States in men’s hockey for the first time since 1980, captivated a massive audience in the United States. According to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics data, the sporting event reached an average of 26 million viewers through NBC and Peacock. The United States’ victory over Canada, with a score of 2-1 in overtime, on Sunday, drew 18.6 million live viewers (8:15-11 a.m. EST) on NBC and Peacock. The total figure rose to 20.7 million with replays on USA Network on Sunday afternoon and on NBC on Sunday night. This match solidifies itself as the most-watched sporting event in the history of the United States with a start time before 9 a.m. Eastern Time, according to Nielsen.Although the current game did not surpass NBC’s all-time hockey viewership record, the final of the 2010 Vancouver Games, which pitted Canada against the United States, averaged 27.6 million viewers. However, the start time of that game was 3:15 p.m. EST.
The combined audience in North America during Hughes’ golden goal was almost 35 million. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that 8.7 million people in Canada tuned in to the game during overtime. The Milan-Cortina Olympics averaged 23.5 million viewers in the United States, becoming the most-watched Winter Games since 2014 and surpassing the Beijing 2022 Games by 96% in audience. The average audience includes the NBC, Peacock, CNBC, USA Network, and other digital platforms, covering the live afternoon windows (2-5 p.m. EST) and prime time (8-11 p.m. EST/PST). Regarding women’s hockey, the gold medal match on February 19, where the United States defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime, averaged 5.3 million viewers on USA Network and Peacock, with a peak of 7.7 million during Megan Keller’s golden goal.
