Many thought a tournament with just four participants and no heritage would fall flat when they announced the 4 Nations Face-Off. However, NHL fans proved the doubters couldn’t be more wrong as 21,105 fans filled Bell Centre for the tournament’s debut match between Canada and Sweden. However, these only reflected a part of the people who watched worldwide.
“Wednesday’s opening #4Nations contest between Canada and Sweden averaged 1.04 million viewers across TNT and truTV,” Braylon Breeze revealed in a post on X. While these viewership numbers didn’t break any all-time records, they were exceptional, to say the least. As Braylon’s post made it r/Hockey, fans made some bold statements comparing the tournament to other sporting events including Saturday night football.
With the NFL season reaching its conclusion and no other big sporting events set for Saturday, fans speculated the 4 Nations Face-Off will rule network television. “It’s going to be huge numbers Saturday night on network TV I bet. There isn’t much else on right now. Daytona racing is Sunday, no football, no soccer in the US, no golf, basketball isn’t close enough to March madness,” commented a Redditor.
“It is US vs Canada during some geopolitical tension. Seems like it will be the sporting event everyone will watch or put on in the bars,” added the fan.
This story is developing…
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