![\"Jack](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2262982330-1024x707.jpg\")
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No sports event ever had more people tuning in before 9 a.m. ET. Elsa \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Despite an early-morning puck drop, an average live audience of 18.6 million fans in the U.S. tuned in Sunday morning to watch the U.S. men\u2019s hockey team earn a gold medal in a thrilling overtime win over Canada. It was the United States\u2019 first men\u2019s hockey gold since the 1980 \u201cMiracle On Ice\u201d and aired live on NBC and Peacock.<\/p>\n
The broadcast peaked at 26 million viewers for the game-winning goal, narrated by NBC\u2019s Kenny Albert with: \u201cJack Hughes wins it! The golden goal for the United States! For the first time since the 1980 Miracle, the United States takes the gold!\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the most-watched sporting event with a pre-9 a.m. ET start time in U.S. history.<\/p>\n
In NBC\u2019s history, the game was the second-most watched hockey game in network history, trailing only behind the USA-Canada gold medal game at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which had a 3:15 p.m. ET puck drop and earned an average of 27.6 million viewers.<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s hockey gold medal game also drew a record-breaking audience<\/a>, becoming the most-watched women\u2019s hockey game in U.S. history. Overall, the Milan Cortina Olympics drew an average of 23.5 million daily viewers<\/a> across its two weeks and the breadth of NBC\u2019s networks, the most-watched Winter Olympics since Sochi 2014 and a 96% increase from Beijing 2022.<\/p>\n A rivalry that draws<\/p>\n The power of the Olympics and this rivalry beat the lure of a lazy Sunday morning. The fact that the United States had not won the gold since the 1980 \u2018Miracle\u2019 added to the memorable experience. While a late-afternoon or prime-time puck drop would have produced an even bigger number, the uniqueness of the moment will be enhanced by the reminder of eggs, bacon and coffee. \u2014 Andrew Marchand<\/p>\n Feb 24, 2026<\/p>\n Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No sports event ever had more people tuning in before 9 a.m. ET. Elsa \/ Getty Images Despite…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[377],"tags":[5,54125,2602,273],"class_list":{"0":"post-470259","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hockey","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-mens-olympic-ice-hockey","10":"tag-olympics","11":"tag-sports-business"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116128070971885590","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n