It turns out relatively few people enjoy watching a lopsided game between a mediocre team and a terrible team, even if it does take place outdoors.
The Blackhawks' blowout loss to the Blues this week at Wrigley Field marked the least-watched Winter Classic of all time, drawing only 920,000 viewers on TNT and TruTV, per Sports Media Watch.
In Chicago, where the game aired at the same time as Illinois football’s Citrus Bowl victory, it recorded a mere 2.5 TV rating, down from a 5.8 the last time the Hawks played in the Winter Classic in 2019.
This Winter Classic was even more of a flop than last year's matchup between the Kraken and Golden Knights, which drew only 1.1 million viewers — at the time the least-watched to date. The Bruins-Penguins Winter Classic in 2023 drew 1.8 million viewers, whereas the first seven iterations of the game (from 2008 to 2015) all drew at least 3.4 million, topped by 4.5 million for Capitals-Penguins in 2011.
That disappointment prompted the NHL to turn towards two more historical franchises with larger fan bases this year, and also to move the game to New Year's Eve to avoid conflicting with college football playoff games on New Year's Day.
Perhaps that would've led to better ratings if the league had matched up two historical franchises enjoying more success this season, or even if the game itself was closer. Or perhaps after two decades the shine has worn off the Winter Classic for casual sports fans, now that it has moved from NBC to TNT and certain venues (like Wrigley) are being repeated.
The Hawks, despite sitting last in the standings, are in the middle of a stretch of five out of six games airing on national TV.
