The NHL got its first-ever Stanley Cup parade by boat this fall, when the Tampa Bay Lightning took home the league’s biggest prize following their bubble playoff championship.
While the image of dozens of boats floating along full of booze-soaked NHLers was plenty fun, though, the fan-less postseason experience was a letdown for plenty — and it appears that the overall enthusiasm levels just never reached where they were in years past.
According to data pulled by Sports Business Daily, the NHL’s 2020 Stanley Cup Final saw a devastating drop in television viewership over the league’s 2019 numbers, plummeting by 61 percent compared to the Boston Bruins - St.