Lowest rated Winter Classic in 5-year history
Daily News Flyers blog
Lowest rated Winter Classic in 5-year history
After NHL commissioner Gary Bettman called Monday’s Winter Classic “perfect,” the NHL and NBC had to be a little disappointed with the return on national television ratings.
According to the overnight ratings, the 2012 Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park was the lowest rated game in the five-year history of the event.
The one caveat, of course, is that this was the only Winter Classic to not be held on New Year’s Day, as the NHL chose to focus on its legal holiday equivalent to not go head-to-head with the NFL on Jan. 1. That focus didn’t exactly pan out.
Here is how it stacks up, according to Sports Business Daily:
2012 - Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park - 3 o’clock start: 2.4 overnight rating (Jan. 2)
2011 - Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field - 7 o’clock start: 2.8 overnight rating
2010 - Boston’s Fenway Park - 1 o’clock start: 2.6 overnight rating
2009 - Chicago’s Wrigley Field - 1 o’clock start (Eastern time): 2.9 overnight rating
2008 - Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson Stadium - 1 o’clock start: 2.6 overnight rating
Comparatively, the Outback Bowl on ABC drew a 5.0 rating and the Rose Bowl on ESPN captured a 9.0 audience last night.
To put it in perspective, those Winter Classic ratings are roughly double what a normal, nationally-televised regular season game would produce.
Local ratings - and ratings in non-hockey markets - have not yet been released.
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Not everyone was off on Monday. Should have been at a later time.— Sidewinder7- I guess you can say that every time Philly gets in on the Winter Classic, the ratings decrease from the previous year.— trungy
- I think that it was Tuesday, not Monday probably didn't help. That and the start time change probably kept people from watching.
— NYluvsPhylers - Two words: Patti Labelle— guyguy4
- mon afternoon was a bad idea for the game. people had to work. also college football would have a higher rating bc more people will bet on those games so that generates more interest.— MIKEI
- Interesting...what were the ratings for the Alumni game versus the real game....I bet more tuned in to see the greats than the current team.....— nuggett
- both times the flyers were in the winter classic Penn State was playing in a bowl game at the time. Make whatever jokes you want, but people around here are still going to watch Penn State.— theeman1
- Go back to playing indoors. The novelty has worn off. Besides, the Flyers can't win these outdoor games.— schnitzelboy
- Having it on Monday was the stupidest thing ever. Half the country didn't have off, something the millionaire corporate NHL shills clearly didn't realize.
Note to Bettmen: this is supposed to be the NHL's marquee event. Most agree it's one of the greatest sporting idea and events since the creation of the superbowl. The tradition is NEW YEARS DAY, and everyone knows that. Changing the date because you fear football ratings shows a serious lack of confidence in your product, not to mention that all you really care about are ratings, not the tradition or "celebration of hockey" that made fans love the WC.— dollarland 
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Good, never want to watch another Winter Classic with the Flyers in it. I hate starting the year in a bad mood.— cdobsox
Agreed. A lot of people were working. Since it was not on New Year's Day, then it should have been played even later in the day.— jp8899- Television and radio ratings are just a small sample multiplied by a larger factor to get a projected rating, which is bogus to begin with. Having the Winter Classic played on a day when most people were working should have been factored in. These ratings make no mention of the available measured viewing audience in relation to the actual "ratings".— jphilly77
- On the other hand, more people tuned in to watch the 3 Stooges Marathon a day earlier on Antenna TV. And Curley didn't claim his leg was hurt and watched the rest of the shows from the bench.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
