NHL's Winter Classic between Kraken and Golden Knights makes ugly viewership history

It's probably a familiar tune for the NHL, but Monday's Winter Classic could not capture the attention of the television audience.

The Seattle Kraken's 3-0 shutout of the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights was the least viewed edition of the outdoor extravaganza. Airing partially against the Rose Bowl, the 2024 version garnered just 1.1 million viewers between main broadcaster TNT and sister network truTV, according to Nielsen data posted by Sports Media Watch and other outlets.

The game took place at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, making it the first Winter Classic to take place in the Pacific Northwest. It was also the first time that the Classic featured the NHL's most recent expansion teams — the Golden Knights began play in 2017 while the Kraken took the ice in 2021.

In all likelihood, having the two newest fan bases may have correlated to fewer nationwide viewers, despite the Golden Knights having quickly become the premier franchise in the Western Conference in less than a decade. Ten of the 15 Classics have featured Original Six franchises, with Boston and Chicago tied for the most appearances in the event with four. Pittsburgh (3) and Washington (2) have featured two of the game's most iconic players, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, adding some individual star power to the event. With the exception of the Bruins and Penguins last January, no game involving Original Six teams, the Penguins or Capitals had less than two million viewers.

That said, the first 12 games aired over-the-air on NBC, and broadcast networks have more reach than cable, where the Classic has aired since TNT gained NHL rights in 2021. Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing noted that going against multiple college football bowl games has not helped the event's cause:

"The Winter Classic always has a tough slate of competition on New Year’s Day thanks to college football bowl games, but this year was especially rough. The game itself started around 3 p.m. ET and went head-to-head with some of the Citrus Bowl on ABC (6.797 million), Reliaquest Bowl on ESPN2 (4.613 million), and Fiesta Bowl on ESPN (4.594 million). It also struggled head-to-head against Rose Bowl pregame coverage (8.919 million on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU) and had no chance against the game itself (27.685 million on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU)."

In some respects, it's quite possible that despite being the league's showcase event until the playoffs come around, the Winter Classic is actually an event designed as an in-person spectacle with a decent but not earth-shattering national audience. It's been years since the incredible first Classic between Crosby's Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres, which provided picturesque snowy conditions that appeared to make the game tailor-made for TV. No matter which teams play in the Winter Classic or which venue is chosen, it's impossible to recreate the magic of the very first time.