This year’s NHL Winter Classic saw the Boston Bruins play host to the Montreal Canadiens in front of nearly 70,000 fans at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Like each of its predecessors, this year’s outdoor game on New Year’s Day was a spectacle to behold for hockey fans around the world, especially considering it featured two Original Six teams and one of the sport’s most storied rivalries.
Leading up to the game’s opening puck drop, the atmosphere was lively and full of promise. Sitting just outside the entrance gates at Gillette is Patriot Place, an entertainment plaza that helped provide a unique flavor for this year’s venue, a nice touch for fans wanting to eat and drink (or keep drinking) while staying warm in the hours leading up to the game.
But, from a competitive standpoint, the game was a flop. Though they entered the game separated by just a single point in the standings, the Canadiens quickly sucked the air out of a rowdy crowd when they scored just over a minute into the game, and it didn’t get much better from there for the hometown fans. The Habs dominated from just about start to finish and, ultimately, their 5-1 victory was the most lopsided game in the eight-year history of the event.
On Monday, it was also revealed that NBC’s ratings for the event checked in at an all-time low, nearly a 40 percent drop-off from just two years ago. That begs the question: Is interest in the annual game waning? Or are the low ratings just a matter of circumstance and context?
On one hand, everything that was once shiny tends to lose its luster. Fans still get geared up about the event, especially when their favorite team is involved, but the outdoor game isn’t quite the abnormality as it once was. The NHL established the Stadium Series in 2014 in an attempt to capitalize on the excitement that the Winter Classic generated once a year and — if you’re a believer in the idea that too much of a good thing is a bad thing — you could argue that the newer outdoor series has made the Classic just a little bit less special.
Over the years, between the Winter Classic and the Stadium Series, we’ve seen the NHL plant its flag in some of the more well-known and historic sports venues around the country — including Ralph Wilson Stadium, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Soldier Field and The Big House. As the number of outdoor games gets bigger, it becomes harder for the league to find stadiums that are an attraction in themselves. The homes of the past two Winter Classics — Nationals Stadium in D.C. and Gillette — are nice, modern places to see a game, but they aren’t exactly historic or on many sports fans’ catalog of bucket list venues. If the league doesn’t want to double-dip on host sites, a big task to keep casual fans interested will have to be finding intriguing and appealing settings for the game.
A dip in quality entertainment surrounding the game could be a factor in casual interest declining, as well. For three years, the NHL had a partnership with HBO to produce the documentary miniseries 24/7: Road to the Winter Classic, which followed both teams with an unparalleled behind-the-scenes in the weeks leading up to the event. It was a big hit among fans and helped drum up additional excitement for the event, as fans got the chance to know those who would be participating a little bit better. Shockingly, the series has become significantly less popular and accessible since moving to EPIX (yeah, I’m honestly still not sure what that is, either) prior to the 2015 Winter Classic.
With the exception of Jordan Smith’s great pre-game anthem, the recent featured musical performances have also been pretty laughable. I can’t imagine Simple Plan convincing anyone to tune in other than their three fans still stuck in 2002.
But, while the ratings slip is undoubtedly disappointing for NBC and the NHL, it may not be as alarming or surprising as you might expect. While the Winter Classic goes up against big bowl games every New Year’s Day, they aren’t typically forced to compete with four massive fanbases as they did this year. Both the Fiesta Bowl (Notre Dame vs. Ohio State) and the Citrus Bowl (Florida vs. Michigan) were being played during the Classic.
Even with all-time low numbers, the ratings for this year’s game were still well above what NBC has come to expect from any other regular season broadcasts over the past handful of years. In fact, through its first eight years, Winter Classic broadcasts have averaged nearly triple the audience that NBC has drawn for other regular season games during that time period. When you couple that with all the money that the league makes on-site and through WC merchandise sales every year, it should be pretty clear that the game isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
That being said, though the game may not be “dying,” it certainly doesn’t seem to be as powerful or prominent as it once was not too long ago. Hardcore hockey fans will likely continue to include it on their favorite events annually, but the league may have to get more creative if they hope to hook casual fans in the coming years.
