🥅 The Best 2 Words in Sports: Game 7

Hockey has given all us sports fans what we’ve been craving for years, a championship Game 7. The winner-takes-all for Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Let’s all take some time to thank the Edmonton Oilers for winning 3 straight games after the Florida Panthers went up in the Stanley Cup Finals 3-0. Or maybe we can also thank the Florida Panthers for letting go of the reigns after the first 3 games? Honestly, one of the two “thank you’s” will work in this scenario. By the time you will have read this post, a winner will have been etched onto the most popular championship trophy in all of sports, the Stanley Cup (we wish this sentence was up for debate, but it’s not). Until then, let’s go over the business of Game 7’s, specifically when it comes to hockey. What benefits come from these “all or nothing” games? And what does it look like from a viewership point of view?

Let’s get after it…

Are Game 7’s rare?

• First, let’s take some time to understand how rare of a situation this is.

  • A total of 196 Stanley Cup playoffs Game 7’s have been played since the format was instituted in 1939.

  • Before last night, only 17 Stanley Cup Finals Game 7’s have ever been played.

  • Only 4 teams in NHL history have won a seven-game series after first falling to a 3–0 deficit, and just once has it happened in the Final.

    • That was by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942 (yes, before the widespread adoption of TV…oh and the NHL only had 7 total teams 😂).

• There was a lot riding on this game. If the Oilers had won, it would have been the 1st NHL championship by a Canadian team since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993 — that 31-year drought is the longest in league history.

• As for the Panthers (editorial breaking news note: they won! 🚨), winning the Stanley Cup was their first title in league history.

What does a Game 7 mean from a business perspective?

• Game 7’s often do pretty well when it comes to sports. The last Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final — in 2019 between the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins — drew an average TV audience of 8.7M (shown on NBC) and set a record as the most-watched NHL game.

• This is only the second time in history Disney has had the media rights to both the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals in the same year. After the Celtics finished off the Mavericks in 5 games, let’s just say Disney (ABC) is glad the Oilers made a series out of this one.

  • According to Sportico, Disney lost out on more than $145M in potential sales revenue from the NBA Finals since it did not go the full 7 games — which is obviously a big deal since advertising costs are more expensive for basketball than they are for hockey.

  • …Even though it clowns in comparison, with the Oilers making this historic comeback, Disney would be able to make an additional $12.6M in sales revenue 👏.

• Overall, the NHL has been very happy with the returns coming from this Stanley Cup Final. There has been a 36% boost in U.S. ratings with an average of 3.6M through the first six games.

  • Last year’s five-game final between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Panthers, which aired on Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT, TBS and truTV) was one to forget…down 43% in viewership from the six-game series between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning on ABC the year prior.

• We won’t see the final viewership numbers for a couple days, so it’ll be interesting to see how it pans out compared to previous Game 7’s.

  • However, there are ways where this could lead to lower viewership numbers:

    • First, the game was aired on a Monday night, which typically rakes in less viewers, compared to a Sunday night.

    • Second, average Households Using Television (HUT) is down double digits since the last Game 7 in 2019 — and down 6.9% year over year in the U.S. of households with cable subscriptions.

      • Honestly, the NFL is really the only sport that is immune to these types of things.

How has the NHL been doing from a popularity standpoint?

• Our NHL coverage has been somewhat limited besides reviewing the Phoenix Coyotes relocation to Utah or the safety precautions for blade protection. And that’s on us 🙋🏻‍♂️! So let’s review the NHL…

• We’ve seen an average of 1.3M U.S. viewers per game for the first three rounds of the playoffs, +14% from a year ago and the best such figure since 1996.

• Record-level attendance in the regular season of 22.6M, with games on average played to 97% venue capacity.

• A league record for annual revenue of $6.2B, due to attendance total, as well as gains in media and sponsorship.

  • In 2021, the NHL agreed to 7-year deals with Disney (ESPN) and WBD (TNT, TBS, etc.). Those deals expire after the 2027-28 season.

  • WBD’s portion of the deal costs ~$225M annually.

  • ESPN’s portion costs ~$400M annually.

    • The total package more than doubled the annual value of the NHL’s previous deal, which ran ~$300M between NBC Sports and Disney Streaming Services (which operates NHL TV).

• The league and NHL Players Association also set the 2024–25 salary cap at $88M — up $4.5M from this season and slightly higher than previously projected (with a $65M floor).

  • This is essentially a reflection of how well league revenues have been doing and proves the sport is in a healthy place for the league, it’s employees, and the fans.

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Quick Hitters

• ⛳️ Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy had a baby in 2022…not like that 🙄. They built a company, TMRW Sports, together, silly! And that company just got a nice little influx of cash. The parent company of the tech-centric golf competition, TGL, is valued at nearly $500M after a Series A funding round was announced on Monday (led by investment firms Dynasty Equity and Connect Ventures). TGL has 24 PGA Tour players committed for its first season and is set to debut in January.

  • ESPN is signed up as TGL’s media-rights partner under a multiyear deal.

  • There will be six TGL teams that each feature four golfers hitting shots into a 3,000-square-foot golf simulator screen until they are within 50 yards of the hole. The action then transfers to a ~22,500-square-foot customizable short game area that transforms between holes. The rules will include a shot clock, and the league plans for players to be mic’d up during the action.

•  🎤 Just when we thought ESPN was in the media rights or content business, we find out they’re actually kind of in the talent business as well. And the lead face and voice of ESPN, Stephen A. Smith wants his bag 💰! As his current deal expires in July 2025, he’s making it known he wants to be the highest-paid talent at the network. The 56-year-old host of First Take could command a salary of $20-25M annually (up from his current ~$12M annually). Monday Night Football color commentator, Troy Aikman, currently sits No. 1 at $18M.

  • To give you an idea, First Take has dominated its weekday time slot for 12 years. In April, the morning debate show continued to put up monster numbers, averaging 482K viewers, up 12%, and registering its 20th consecutive month of year-over-year audience growth 🤯.

• 😸 Don’t worry NC fans! Your Panthers aren’t going anywhere. The Charlotte city council approved $650M in renovations to Bank of America Stadium in a deal that keeps the Panthers and Charlotte FC (MLS) in the city for the next 20 years. The lease extension allows David Tepper, owner of both franchises, to opt out after 15 years and, if he did, he would pay for any remaining debts incurred by the city. The city has committed nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars in facility improvements for three of its pro teams so far this year.