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Big Opening Week For The NHL
by Paul on 10/06/09 at 04:50 PM ET
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ATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE BEGINS 2009-10 SEASON BY RECORDING
STRONG BUSINESS RESULTS ACROSS ALL LEAGUE PLATFORMS
League Continues Momentum As Fans Around The World Welcome Arrival Of A New Season
NEW YORK (October 6, 2009)
+ In less than a week, over 420,000 fans have attended NHL® games.
+ VERSUS dropped the puck on its fifth year of coverage on Thursday with the most-watched NHL opening night in network history.
+ The Washington Capitals-Boston Bruins game on Thursday earned the highest rating ever for a regular-season game on VERSUS.
+ With the deployment of a new viewership-measurement system in Canada, the 57th season of CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada opened on Thursday with its largest opening night audience.
+ Through the first four days of October, Unique Visitors to NHL.com were up 68% compared to the first four days of October in 2008.
+ Video starts for NHL.com rose an incredible 130% during the first week of the season compared to the first week of last season.
+ Through the opening weekend of the season, orders for NHL GameCenter LIVE™ were up 70% from the same timeframe last season.
+ Overall merchandise sales for the four regular-season games in Europe during Compuware/NHL Premiere™ 2009 increased 52% from the comparable numbers in 2008. Per capita spending rose 73%.
+ Registrations on NHL.com for an opportunity to purchase tickets to the 2010 Bridgestone/NHL Winter Classic® surpassed 307,000. That eclipsed the number of registrations for last season’s game by 25%.
Specific milestones reached during the opening weekend of the season included:
ATTENDANCE
Through the first 25 games this season arenas continued to be filled. Of the 21 games played in North America, 19 have been sellouts.
Of the teams who have played in North America, seventeen have posted attendance numbers above or even with the comparable number of games from last season, while eight teams have yet to play their home opener.
Over 250,000 fans attended NHL games on Saturday alone, as the League played 15 games in 15 cities in four countries on two continents. NHL teams played to 99% capacity during opening weekend.
Crowds flocked to both the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm and Hartwall Arena in Helsinki to the tune of 51,282 fans for the four games.
TELEVISION RATINGS
VERSUS
VERSUS dropped the puck on its fifth year of coverage on Thursday and provided the most-watched NHL opening night in network history for the Washington Capitals-Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks-Colorado Avalanche NHL doubleheader. VERSUS was one of the top-rated cable networks in all four local markets during the time period.
The Capitals-Bruins game set a new ratings record making it the highest rated regular-season game ever on VERSUS.
For its two-game coverage of Compuware/NHL Premiere 2009, VERSUS saw viewership increase 51% over its two-game coverage from Europe in 2008.
NHL ON CBC
With the deployment of a new viewership-measurement system in Canada, the 57th season of CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada opened on Thursday with its largest opening night audience.
NHL ON RDS
RDS on Thursday opened the season up more than 12% in viewers from the audience for the network’s first Montreal Canadiens broadcast last season.
LOCAL RIGHTSHOLDERS
With final numbers still being reported, local NHL rightsholders are posting records:
For the Bruins’ home game on Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes, NESN earned the highest season-opening telecast in NESN’s 25 years of covering the team. NESN was the highest-rated network in the Boston market during the game, beating all other broadcast and cable networks.
On Fox Sports Pittsburgh, the rating for the New York Rangers-Pittsburgh Penguins game on Friday night, when the Penguins raised their Stanley Cup championship banner to the Mellon Arena rafters, was the highest ever for a Penguins season opening game telecast on the network.
NHL.COM
Fans flocked to NHL.com for extensive video and editorial coverage of Compuware/NHL Premiere in Europe, game highlights, player profiles, game reports and exclusive blogs.
Provided with unparalleled content, Unique Visitors to NHL.com increased 51% for the opening week of the 2009-10 season compared to the same timeframe for the 2008-09 season.
Video starts on NHL.com rose an incredible 130% compared to the first week of 2008.
Through the first four days of October, Unique Visitors to NHL.com were up 68% compared to the first four days of Oct. 2008.
NHL GAMECENTER LIVE™
Through the opening weekend of the season, orders for NHL GameCenter LIVE™, NHL.com’s subscription service that enables fans online access to live TV-quality streaming video coverage of out of market games, are up 70% from the same timeframe last season.
INTERNATIONAL MERCHANDISE
Overall merchandise sales for the four regular season games in Europe increased 52% from the comparable numbers in 2008. Per capita spending rose 73%.
In Helsinki, sales on Friday and Saturday broke the Hartwall Arena-record for highest merchandise sales ever for a hockey game at that venue. The previous record was held by the 2003 World Ice Hockey Championships.
Top-selling items included NHL Premiere knit hats, team jerseys, NHL Premiere caps, NHL Premiere short-sleeve and long-sleeve tees.
2010 BRIDGESTONE/NHL WINTER CLASSIC®
Total registrations for the general public, random ticket drawing in the U.S. and the ticket purchase contest in Canada for an opportunity to purchase tickets to the 2010 Bridgestone/NHL Winter Classic® surpassed 307,000. Registrations closed Oct. 5 and eclipsed the number of registrations for last season’s game by 25%.
If each person who registered was given the right to purchase 2 tickets, the NHL could host 15 Bridgestone/NHL Winter Classic games in Fenway Park and still not meet the ticket demand.
ON THE ICE
On Saturday, all 30 NHL clubs played games in 15 cities in four countries on two continents across 10 time zones. A total of 600 players who were born in 25 different countries played in games overseen by 60 officials—30 referees and 30 linesmen.
The League’s brightest stars shined and its young talents dazzled.
Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin seized the early lead in the scoring race with consecutive three-point performances and was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week as Washington opened the regular season with victories over Boston and Toronto.
Last seen hoisting the 2009 Stanley Cup, Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby scored a goal in each of the Penguins’ two victories and added the shootout winner against the Islanders.
The opening weekend of the NHL season also turned into a coming out party for several players from the 2008 and 2009 Draft classes. John Tavares of the Islanders, the first overall pick in the 2009 Draft, scored a goal and had an assist in his NHL debut Saturday night. Matt Duchesne, the No. 3 pick by Colorado, and Ryan O’Reilly, the No. 33 selection, both recorded assists in their debuts. Evander Kane (No. 4) recorded an assist in his debut against Tampa Bay. Less than two minutes later, Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (No. 2) notched his first career point with an assist.
Michael Del Zotto, a 19-year-old defenseman and the No. 20 pick of the 2008 Entry Draft, scored a second-period goal in his home debut and second career game for the Rangers against Ottawa at Madison Square Garden. In the same game, Erik Karlsson (No. 15 overall in 2008) debuted for the Senators with an assist in 17:41 of ice time.
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