The Four Nations Face-off has been a success for the NHL. When it was announced last year, there was not much hype around it. However, this one-off tournament has proven successful for the NHL and NHLPA. Everyone in the United States talked about it.
As previously written for NHLRumors.com, the Canada-USA Game last Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, with the crazy start of three fights in nine seconds, had the sports world talking. Even before that, the players’ passion was on display in the first two days of the tournament.
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This is why the NHLPA, under Executive Director Marty Walsh, worked so hard to get the NHL to agree to Olympic and International competition in the last CBA negotiations during the COVID bubble and return to play. You can see the passion from the players when they play for their countries. While it was only Sweden, Finland, Canada, and the USA in the Four Nations Face-off, the intensity was there.
This was not an All-Star Game as everyone thought it would be. It was 10 years of pent-up emotion from not playing best-on-best International Hockey. All the teams in the tournament played well, and it made for exciting games. Obviously, everyone wanted Canada-USA in the Final. That rivalry gave attention to the sport of hockey in the United States, and it showed in the ratings across North America.
In the United States, 9.3 million people watched the final of the Four Nations Face-off on ESPN, with a peak of 10.4 million viewers. This game topped the charts that night, beating everything on cable and network TV. Not to mention, it was the most-watched non-NFL event on ESPN+. The Four Nations Face-off was a hit for ESPN, as the numbers were up from the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
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The average viewership for all four games was 4.3 million people, up 1079 percent from 2016. That was the last best-on-best International hockey tournament. And we know Canada will watch, averaging 6.8 million over its three platforms: Sportsnet, TVA Sports, and Sportsnet+.
RATINGS: Canada averaged 6.9 million viewers across Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, and TVA Sports for last night’s Canada-United States championship game.
— Braylon Breeze (@Braylon_Breeze) February 21, 2025
Again, the 16.1 million people watching the Four Nations Face-off Final was the second most watched game in North America in a decade, behind Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers. And that says something because of the audience in the United States.
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The NHL has always been one of the four major sports in the United States. However, now, thanks to the Four Nations Face-off, the NHL is second out of four, only behind the NFL. The NBA has issues of its own with players resting and not playing every night. But the entire tournament, not just the Canada-USA games, had people talking.
It was not just the athletes either. One of the NHL’s partners in ESPN talked about it for two weeks, including the day after the championship game, which saw Canada win 3-2 in OT. P.K. Subban was on Get Up, and First Take and he gave his opinions on why the NHL is hot, and the NBA is not. His opinions sparked debate on other shows, including an NBA show later in the day. However, other media personalities, like Rich Eisen, Dan Patrick, Jim Rome (who rarely talks about hockey), and others, were also talking about the Four Nations Faceoff.
Hey Brian it isn’t an in season tournament for a stupid trophy. This was a reintroduced of best on best international hockey. Some NHL hasn’t had in 10 years. Hockey culture is different. Guys play through pain. Plus it dominated the NBA’s “airwaves” NHL is Hot NBA is Not. https://t.co/S9m7xOJg78
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) February 22, 2025
It has a feel of 1994 again. The New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup, and the momentum was building, and the NHL was right there. Then, a lockout happened. There is no lockout in sight. The trade deadline is two weeks away on March 7th. There is a Stadium Series at the Horseshoe, the home of the National Champions Ohio State Buckeyes in College Football. And that is a big game in the standings as the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings are battling for a playoff spot.
That game is on ESPN on Saturday, March 1st, and the trade deadline is on March 7th. The NHL and its partners have so much momentum coming out of Four Nations. Eyeballs will be on them with these doubleheaders of nationally televised games.
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The NHL can feed off the Four Nations Face-off momentum and use it to build hype around the playoff races in both conferences. Right now, it is mostly in the Eastern Conference, but there is a slight battle in the West between Calgary and Vancouver. However, the NHL has never been talked about this much in the United States in a long time.
This Four Nations Face-off grew the game and took it to new heights in the United States. Not even the expansion through the Sun Belt and Florida did this. While that grew the game at a grassroots level, nationally, it is being talked about.
The NHL hit a home run with the Four Nations Face-off. Now, everyone is wondering what comes next as we look ahead to the 2026 Olympics and the 2028 World Cup of Hockey.