The 2014 New Years Day Winter Classic was money in the bank for the National Hockey League. Along with an attendance of around 110,000 at the Big House in Michigan, the television ratings were huge. The New Years Day game that saw the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shoot-out was an instant classic. In America, it was the highest rated regular season hockey game viewed in thirty-nine years. The NBC rating of 2.5 tied the 2009 Winter Classic that featured the Detroit Red Wings versus the Chicago Blackhawks at Wrigley Field. The NBC rating was also a 19% increase over the last Winter Classic of 2012 that was a match-up between the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers.
On the Canadian television side the news was even better. CBC reported that 3.57 million viewers watched on average. A total of 5.3 million watched the third period, overtime and shoot-out. That is a total of 8.75 million viewers in all. This is the largest CBC Hockey Night in Canada regular season game viewed ever. This is amazing because CBC had some huge numbers to beat out.
The total North America viewership was an average of 8.234 million fans. The game was televised in North America on NBC, CBC, and RDS. This viewership total eclipses the 2011 Winter Classic that was a great battle between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. That game had an average viewership of 6.6 million. This years Winter Classic was an excellent game held outdoors in the snow. The way hockey originated. It was a great game that will be one remembered for a long time.
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