So far, so good for 2009 Stanley Cup Finals

June 4, 12:48 AMSports Business ExaminerJosh Lobdell

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The Stanley Cup Finals Remath of the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins is scoring big TV numbers for the NHL AP Photo/Gene Puskar

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman altered the schedule of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals to insure that the first two games would be broadcasted on NBC. That decision seems to be paying some dividends.

Games one and two of this year’s finals averaged a 2.8 rating. That is up 17% over last year when these two games were broadcast on the Cable Channel Versus.

What is a better number than that though is these two games are the highest rated Stanley Cup Final games since 2003 when the Detroit Red Wings were facing the Carolina Hurricanes. That series averaged a 3.4/7 rating.

Ratings are defined as the percentage of homes with a TV watching a certain TV broadcast.

If we take a close look at these numbers we find that the Detroit Red Wings have helped and are helping the NHL get back its TV audience. This seems to suggest that the NHL should focus in on marketing a team that has a solid fan base and it a charter member of this league over trying to find the next face of this league in a single player.

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