Islanders vs. Rangers draws best TV viewership since NHL returned to ESPN
Brock Nelson of the Islanders celebrates his first-period goal against the Rangers during their Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Sunday’s Rangers-Islanders game at MetLife Stadium averaged 1.57 million viewers on ABC, making it the most-viewed regular-season game since ESPN re-acquired rights to NHL games for the 2021-22 season, the network said on Wednesday.
The Rangers won, 6-5 in overtime, before nearly 80,000 fans at MetLife as part of the NHL's Stadium Series over the weekend. The television audience peaked at 2.38 million viewers.
The game averaged 559,000 viewers in the New York area, making it the most-viewed regular-season game in the market on any network since 2014.
The NHL said Sunday’s game set a new record for Stadium Series merchandise sales, exceeding the mark set the night before for Flyers-Devils at MetLife.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
