Relatively speaking, of course. But compared to the rest of the NHL, the Bruins are a veritable ratings bonanza for national broadcasts. The latest success: ESPN reported that the Bruins’ recent game against the New Jersey Devils drew the most watched regular season game yet in the new broadcast rights deal, with an average of 886,000 viewers and a peak of 1.1 million.
That’s better than the league average of 786,000 viewers, which is up 24% from a year ago. It’s worth noting that the list excludes Opening Night and the Stadium Series.
Prior to the Bruins’ most recent two national games against the Devils and Capitals, they were in four of the top-8 broadcasts in the U.S. so far this season, which factors in ESPN, ABC, and TNT. Per “NHL4Lyfe” on X, the Stadium Series game between the Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning is unsurprisingly the most-watched game of the season with 2.072 million viewers.
The other three B’s games, against the Rangers, Flyers, and Capitals, all averaged more than a million viewers.
It’s a testament to the dedication of Bruins fans, who don’t care if the Bruins are technically rebuilding and have a first-year head coach and may miss the playoffs in 2025-26. Oh, and that Devils game wasn’t exactly pleasant to get through for the B’s faithful.
But if the NHL needs eyeballs on their games, and a big-market team with a built-in following to ensure it, they know which team to call.
Matt, a North Andover, Massachusetts native, has been with The Sports Hub since 2010. Growing up the son of Boston University All-American and Melrose High School hall-of-fame hockey player Steve Dolloff, sports was always a part of his life. After attending Northeastern University, Matt focused his love of sports on writing, extensively writing about all four major Boston teams. He also is a co-host of the Sports Hub Underground podcast and is a regular on-air contributor on the Sports Hub. Matt writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.