Team USA men's hockey final draws 20.7 million viewers
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Team USA celebrates winning men's hockey gold after defeating Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 22, 2026. Photo: Ina Fried/Axios
The men's hockey final for the 2026 Winter Olympics was the most watched sporting event that started before 9am ET in U.S. history and NBC Sports' second-most watched hockey game ever, NBCUniversal said on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Team USA's 2-1 victory in overtime against Canada contributed to a ratings success for NBCUniversal's broadcast of the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Zoom in: NBCUniversal said the final drew 20.7 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and USA Network on Sunday, according to data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.
- The game attracted an average live audience of 18.6 million on NBC and Peacock. NBCUniversal said 26 million viewers were watching during overtime between 10:45am and 11am ET for the game-winning goal by Jack Hughes.
- NBCUniversal said the game was NBC Sports' most-watched streaming audience at 3.7 million viewers, excluding the NFL.
- The most watched hockey match ever remains the USA vs. Canada men's gold medal game at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, which had started at 3:15pm ET.
What they're saying: "As the final medal event, the gold-medal hockey game was a fitting crescendo to a spectacular 17 days of Milan Cortina Winter Olympic competition that we were so honored to present," NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said in a statement.
The big picture: The Olympics broadcast was part of NBCUniversal's "Legendary February," a historic moment where it also hosted coverage for the Super Bowl and the NBA All-Star Game.
- The media giant said it set advertising records with the highest 30-second ad unit rate and highest total ad revenue for the Super Bowl along with tripling digital ad revenue for the 2026 Olympics compared to 2022.
- NBCUniversal showcased its strength across linear and streaming, making Peacock a destination to watch games live, on demand and in multiview.
- Thursday's women's hockey final between the U.S. and Canada was the most-watched women's hockey game on record, averaging 5.3 million viewers on USA Network and Peacock, NBCUniversal said Monday.
What to watch: After capturing the hearts of Americans with their victory and a tribute to the late Johnny Gaudreau, the men's hockey team now faces backlash.
- Players were recorded laughing on a call with President Trump where he invited them to his State of the Union address and said he would be "impeached" if he didn't also invite the women's team.
- The women's hockey team declined an invite to the address, citing scheduling issues.
- Team USA men's hockey player Quinn Hughes said Tuesday during an appearance on "Good Morning America" that they will attend. Twenty members of the team were at the White House and posed for a photo with President Trump. Five players scheduled to play NHL games Wednesday night did not attend.
