TORONTO – Rogers Sportsnet recorded its highest-rated CHL audience ever last Saturday during the Memorial Cup’s opening game between the OHL’s London Knights and the Rimouski Oceanic.
The game pulled in an average audience of 593,000 viewers, peaking at 701,000. That represents an increase of almost 250% over the previous high for a Memorial Cup contest on Sportsnet, said a release.
Last year’s final between the Kelowna Rockets and the Gatineau Olympiques attracted a total of 238,000 viewers, the highest Memorial Cup audience before the Knights versus Oceanic clash Saturday.
Last year’s Cup also had to go up against NHL playoffs and did not feature hockey’s “next-big-thing” Sidney Crosby, who plays for the Oceanic.
But, proving that Crosby’s not everything, Sportsnet followed up the record audience on Sunday with the second-highest number in the network’s Memorial Cup coverage history when the Ottawa 67’s thrilling double-overtime victory over the Kelowna Rockets drew an audience of 436,000.
All of these games are being broadcast in HD.
Soccer, too, is drawing a crowd. Sportsnet reported that it also had a record audience for the final of the FA Cup won on penalty kicks by Arsenal over Manchester United. The 194,000 viewers are the most to watch an FA Cup match on Sportsnet. The previous FA Cup high audience number on Sportsnet was 166,000 on March 9, 1999 for a match-up between Newcastle and Everton.
