NHL viewership takes a massive decline in the United States this season

Is the future of the NHL in trouble?

For years now we've been reading reports about diminishing viewership in the NHL and a report from Sports Business Journal today really brings that into focus.

According to a report from Austin Karp, NHL viewership in the United States was down 12% in the regular season, 25% in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Final and a whopping 31% in the Conference Finals.

Yeesh...

From Karp:

The Conference Semifinals are down 25%, with the Conference Finals down a huge 31% in the U.S., showing major concerns for the league. One reason the playoff viewership is so low in the U.S. can be attributed to the lack of American-based teams.

I think the assertion that viewership is down due to a lack of American-based teams in the playoffs is a bit overstated... I mean, 3 of the 4 Conference Finals teams were American. I think the much bigger issue is the lack of major American teams in the playoffs is a bigger contributor. American hockey fans may deny it, but the Original 6 American franchises do the majority of the heavy lifting when it comes to viewership down south. Having the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings all out of the post-season is a tough obstacle to overcome.

Still, it's not all bad news for viewership in the U.S., as the NHL's 4-Nations Face-Off generated some outstanding results.

Again from Karp:

There was a bright spot for the league, which single-handedly lifted their viewership averages; their new All-Star format - The Four Nations. This format was pitted the best NHL players against each other representing their home countries, almost a mini-Olympics. The Championship earned 9.3M viewers in the U.S., where the tournament averaged 6.5M viewers including teams for Canada, Sweden and Finland.

You'd think that the NHL would double down on international competition with numbers like these, but there are reports now that the 4 Nations and/or the World Cup will be phased out over the next couple seasons in favor of a traditional All-Star Game.

Good grief, Gary...

While there are many reasons why the NHL's viewership may be down, I think it comes down to two main things:

1. Young fans don't care for the NHL's long, drawn out and boring broadcasts.

2. Older, traditional fans are confused by how and where to find their team's broadcasts.

Kids aren't going to sit through uninspired intermission segments and a bombardment of commercial advertisements just to watch a hockey game. That's just fact. They're watching the highlights in their own time, at their own discretion.

And die-hard traditionalists are less likely to be tech-savvy and have multiple online subscriptions.

It's almost as if... the NHL has NO idea who their fanbase actually is. Go figure that a league headed up by Gary Bettman, a New York based lawyer, would be out of touch with hockey fans...