Viewership of inaugural season opener a highlight of CBC, Sportsnet, and TSN New Year’s Day programming
TORONTO, ON (January 5, 2023) – History was made as the inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) game reached 2.9 million Canadian viewers on New Year’s Day. Live coverage of the league’s season opener between Toronto and New York, played at a sold-out Mattamy Athletic Centre, aired on CBC, Sportsnet, and TSN.
The 2.9 million viewers across Canada represent a combined reach over the league’s three Canadian national broadcast partners, including pre-game coverage. CBC, Sportsnet, and TSN provided unprecedented collaboration for a regular-season game to generate an historic audience in Canada. The debut game generated a combined average audience of 879K (2+) and was the number one sports or entertainment program of the day across all networks. The peak moment featured 1.113 million viewers at 1:49 p.m. ET and occurred midway through the second period with New York leading Toronto 1-0. New York would go on to win the game 4-0.
“The enthusiastic response to our historic opening game reflects Canada’s national interest in our sport, our outstanding athletes and the PWHL,” said Stan Kasten, PWHL Advisory Board member. “We truly hear the statement our viewing audience made Monday, and we cherish the level of engagement shown. We will work even more intently with our broadcast partners to build the PWHL community through the quality productions and storytelling our great fans deserve.”
Streaming of the game on the league’s YouTube channel has provided total viewership of 130.1K since puck drop, peaked at 15,986 concurrent viewers, has generated 738.2K impressions, and an average view duration of 24:51.
Opening game viewership on Jan. 1 was followed by record-setting attendance on Jan. 2 when 8,318 fans sold-out the league’s second ever game, played between Ottawa and Montreal at The Arena at TD Place. A crowd of 4,012 attended Boston’s home opener against Minnesota on Wednesday night at Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell.
Visit thepwhl.com to purchase tickets and merchandise, and subscribe to the PWHL e-newsletter to receive the latest league updates. Follow the league on all social media platforms @thepwhlofficial plus all six team accounts @pwhl_boston, @pwhl_minnesota, @pwhl_montreal, @pwhl_newyork, @pwhl_ottawa, and @pwhl_toronto.
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