The 4 Nations Face-Off championship game between the United States and Canada on Thursday night marked the largest audience for a hockey game on ESPN, the network announced Friday.
The game, in which Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in an overtime thriller, garnered 9.3 million viewers, with 10.4 million viewers at its peak.
It was also the largest audience for a non-NFL event on ESPN+.
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Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid scored 8:18 into overtime to lift Canada over the United States to win the championship game of the inaugural best-on-best tournament at Boston’s TD Garden. Jordan Binnington held the Americans to two goals on 33 shots.
Sportsnet reported 10.7 million people across Canada watched Thursday night — over a quarter of the country’s population.
Excluding pro and college football coverage, the 4 Nations championship game was ESPN’s largest audience since the 2024 NBA Finals, when the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks four games to one.
The four games of the tournament that ESPN showed drew an average viewership of 4.3 million.
The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.
