The United States and Canada women’s hockey teams did a lot more than just play a thrilling gold medal match in Milan.
The heated matchup went down in the history books as the most-watched women’s hockey game ever, NBC announced Friday.
The final, which saw Team USA win 2-1 in overtime, averaged 5.3 million viewers on USA Network and Peacock. Team USA trailed Canada 1-0 until late in the third period when Hilary Knight netted the game-tying goal with just over two minutes remaining.
During overtime, Megan Keller scored the dazzling game-winner, as the game’s audience peaked at 7.7 million viewers across a 15-minute span between 3:45 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday afternoon.
The ratings for the Canadian coverage have not yet been reported.
Previously, the most-watched women’s hockey game was the 2010 Vancouver Olympics final that averaged 7.5 million viewers as Canada went on to beat the U.S. 2-0 to capture their third straight gold medal.
The women’s gold medal game, paired with Alysa Liu’s gold medal performance in the women’s free skate, made Wednesday the most-watched Winter Olympics weekday coverage since Feb. 17, 2024, NBC said.
The network averaged 26.7 million viewers for the afternoon broadcast “Milan Prime” window from 2-5 p.m. ET and “Primetime in Milan” from 8-11 p.m. ET across NBC, Peacock, NBCU Digital Platforms and USA Network.
The U.S. women’s hockey team captured the nation with their dominance in Milan.
2026 WINTER OLYMPICS
Following the 2022 Games that saw the Americans fall to Canada in the final, the leaders of the women’s team decided to switch up the roster. For Milan, they favored youth and new talent sprinkled among some strong veterans, such as 36-year-old Knight.
It certainly paid off.
They rolled through the Winter Games without dropping a game, which marked the first time since the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. Team USA lit up the ice, outscoring its opponents 33-2 and setting an Olympic record for the longest shutout streak at 352:17.
NBC owns the U.S. media rights to the Olympics through 2036. In the coming years, the network will host coverage in Los Angeles (2028), the French Alps (2030), Brisbane (2032), Utah (2034) and the 2036 Summer Games at a location to be determined.
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