The NHL Continues to Lose its Audience at an Alarming Rate: What's Driving Fans Away?
NHL ratings continue to plummet at an alarming rate, and Gary Bettman and the league may need to strongly consider removing blackouts to help stop the bleeding.
It has been the case for years that, not only in popularity but also in viewership, the NHL trails the NBA and all the way down to the NFL. While hockey has always enjoyed a more niche audience, there is still much room for growth, and the league could certainly hold its own against other leagues. The NHL can work toward increasing its ratings over the course of a year, although certainly not in the same league as its basketball and football counterparts.
However, recent trends show that the league is slipping in its effort to keep those viewership numbers intact, and that gives reason for concern.
A new report by Sports Media Watch shows across the board, NHL TV ratings are on their way down, signaling an alarming trend. For instance, last week's Sabres-Penguins game on TNT and truTV was down 32% in ratings and 27% in viewership versus last year's Penguins-Red Wings game, with a 0.28 rating and 512,000 viewers. ESPN's Wild-Blues game struggled just as much, down 29% in ratings and 24% in viewership from the comparable Lightning-Sabres match last season. These declines perhaps mean fewer viewers and long-term implications for league growth and sustainability.
A rise in illegal streaming could be a major cause of the decline in viewership. While many fans look for cheaper or more convenient ways to watch their favorite teams, they often use unauthorized streams at the expense of traditional cable and streaming platforms. This not only affects the revenue generated by the NHL but also alters the actual number of people who watch the games. Without making this content more accessible, this problem is bound to rise, thus continuing to chip away at official viewership numbers.
The other important issue is the persistence of regional blackouts. These blackouts prohibit viewers from being allowed to watch games in their own markets unless they subscribe to premium services, something many loyal viewers find really frustrating.
Because of that fact, fans in particular areas were blocked from viewing the live games of their favorite teams and therefore resorted to alternative and often illegal ways of watching them. Not only does it hurt fan engagement, but it could be one of the major reasons the NHL is struggling to keep its ratings from continuously falling. The league is in real jeopardy of alienating its core audience in strong hockey areas if the league continues to enforce blackouts.
From illegal streaming to the aftereffects of regional blackouts, the league has to fight its way out of this trend. If Gary Bettman and the NHL want to stay competitive and further grow its fanbase, then it really needs to reconsider the way it delivers content to its audience. The easier it is to access and more economical it is to view games, the more viewership will return to the screen.
