Team USA’s thrilling 2-1 overtime victory against Canada in Sunday’s Milan Cortina Olympics men’s gold medal hockey game was watched by 20.7 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and Versant’s USA Network, and peaked at 26.0 million live viewers on NBC and Peacock for the game-winning goal, based on Nielsen Big Data + Panel and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
The USA-Canada gold-medal game delivered an average live audience of 18.6 million viewers on NBC and Peacock (8:15-11 a.m. ET), which:
- Marks the most-watched pre-9 a.m. ET (start time) sporting event on record in U.S. history. The game began at 8 a.m. EST on Sunday.
- Ranks as NBC Sports’ second-most watched hockey game ever, behind only the USA-Canada men’s gold medal game at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, which had a more favorable puck drop time of 3:15 p.m. ET (27.6 million viewers).
- Includes NBC Sports’ most-watched streaming audience (excluding NFL), with an average of 3.7 million viewers, led by Peacock.
“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,” said NBC Sports president Rick Cordella. “We applaud all the athletes, organizers, and our gracious hosts, and thank our passionate Team NBC colleagues who worked tirelessly to bring these Winter Games, Super Bowl LX, and the NBA All-Star Game to more than 215 million Americans in our ‘Legendary February.’”
An astounding average of 26.0 million viewers on NBC and Peacock were watching between 10:45-11 a.m. ET as Kenny Albert called Jack Hughes’ overtime game-winner for Team USA (10:52 a.m. ET). The victory marked the United States’ first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980.
Sunday’s Closing Ceremony provided a spectacular culmination as more than 215 million Americans (215.6 million through Feb. 17) tuned in across NBCUniversal’s platforms for “Legendary February,” headlined by Super Bowl LX, the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, the NBA All-Star-Game, and the Feb. 1 debut of Sunday Night Basketball on February, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel reach metrics.
From the most-watched Opening Ceremony in 12 years through last night’s Closing Ceremony, the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics averaged 23.5 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, NBCUniversal Digital Platforms and Versant’s CNBC and USA Network across the combined live afternoon Milan Prime window (2-5 p.m. ET) and U.S. primetime (8-11 p.m. ET/PT) time periods. Milan Cortina viewership is the highest for a Winter Games since Sochi 2014 and up 96% from the 2022 Beijing Olympics (12.0 million).
The U.S. had its most productive Winter Olympics ever with 33 medals, trailing Norway with 41. The U.S. captured gold in high-profile events including women’s figure skating (Alyssa Liu) and defeated Canada in both men’s and women’s hockey in overtime thrillers.
NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2036, which are scheduled for Los Angeles (2028), French Alps (2030), Brisbane (2032), Utah (2034), and the 2036 Summer Games whose location has yet to be chosen.
