Winter Classic Sets Record Low Viewership

The 2025 NHL Winter Classic, featuring the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, achieved record-low viewership, averaging just 920,000 viewers on TNT and truTV. This marked a 16% decrease from the previous year's event, which itself had a low of 1.1 million viewers. The game, held on New Year’s Eve for the first time to avoid competition with the College Football Playoff, still faced significant conflicts with other bowl games, particularly impacting Chicago viewers. Despite the disappointing ratings, the game drew a sell-out crowd of 40,933 at Wrigley Field. The Blues won decisively with a score of 6-2, but the Blackhawks' poor performance this season, ranking last in the league, likely contributed to the lack of viewer interest. The NHL hopes for a better outcome for the upcoming 2024/25 season debut on ABC.