SBJ Unpacks: NHL viewership roars back

Tonight in Unpacks: NHL viewership bounced back in a big way, surging to its best TV average in 14 seasons and rising 23% from the 2024-25 campaign, reports SBJ’s Austin Karp.

Also tonight:

• Why MLB views Mexico as a ‘priority market’
• Patriots sign Ugreen in growing tech accessory category
• Haslams paying $205 million for NWSL expansion team in Columbus
• Op-ed: The cultural minefield awaiting the World Cup

Listen to SBJ’s most popular podcast, Morning Buzzcast, where Abe Madkour discusses the legacy of retiring Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman, the prospects of Nashville landing the Super Bowl for the new Nissan Stadium in 2030, changes coming to the front end of the PGA Tour’s schedule and more.

The NHL bounced back from lower viewership last season for its best regular-season average since the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. All games across ESPN, ABC and TNT/truTV averaged 546,000 viewers, which is the best mark since NBC and NBCSN averaged 590,000 viewers over just 70 games 14 seasons ago.

This season was easily the best for the NHL under its rights deals with ESPN and TNT Sports, with viewership up 23% from last season.

Even taking better audience measurement from Nielsen’s Big Data into account, more people tuned into the NHL this year. Games across ESPN and ABC were up 30% this season (54 telecasts), as the company had its best audience since coming back as an NHL partner prior to the 2021-22 season, averaging 760,000 viewers. ESPN games averaged 602,000 viewers (38 games), which is up 48% from last season. ABC games averaged 1.1 million over 16 telecasts — up 33% for the broadcast TV network’s best average under the existing rights deal.

TNT Sports also had its best season yet as an NHL partner, averaging 381,000 viewers over 72 games (includes truTV simulcasts). That’s up 21% from last season. TNT also had its best Sunday package of games yet (713,000 viewers). Following the Olympics, TNT’s NHL games averaged 453,0000 viewers, which is 47% better than what the network averaged after last season’s 4 Nations Face-Off. It was TNT’s best second half of the season yet.

Best of the best

The Lightning-Bruins Stadium Series game on Feb. 1 on ESPN was the best NHL audience this season at 2.07 million viewers, which also was the best regular-season game ever on cable TV. ABC’s best game was Red Wings-Penguins on Jan. 3 (1.59 million).

TNT had three of the five best cable TV games this season, led by Bruins-Flyers on March 5 at 1.2 million views. That marks TNT’s best non-Winter Classic regular-season audience yet.

The Bruins led all teams with five games in the top 10, followed by the Red Wings (four) and Rangers (three). There were no Capitals games in the top 10.

Major League Baseball returns to Mexico City this week, continuing its push into what it views as a “priority market” following the success of the World Baseball Classic.

The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks will play a pair of games April 25-26 at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú Béisbol, marking MLB’s third appearance in Mexico’s capital city since 2023 as part of the league’s World Tour.

“Mexico is definitely a market that we care about,” said Jeremiah Yolkut, MLB senior vice president of global operations and events. “And we think from a business standpoint, but also a development standpoint, there’s a real opportunity for MLB to be even bigger in the market.”

MLB’s long-term upside in Mexico is tied to both scale and talent development. There were seven Mexican players on 2026 Opening Day rosters, and the country’s population exceeds 130 million, including more than 20 million in Mexico City. The Mexican Baseball League has been a feeder for the majors. MLB also is continuing to invest in growing the sport at the youth level via the MLB Cup in hopes of developing the next generation of Mexican players.

“We’ve built such momentum on the nature of baseball being international,” Yolkut said. “To now take two of our teams to an international city and program an event, this is probably the best opportunity we’ve had to do it.”

Yolkut said the San Diego and Arizona markets were a “perfect match” for the 2026 MLB Mexico City Series due to their year-round programming surrounding Mexican fandom and alignment with the event’s theme. The Padres faced the San Francisco Giants in the 2023 Mexico City Series, while the Diamondbacks last played internationally in 2019 in Monterrey.

While the event sold out in a matter of hours, there will be plenty of marketing and advertising throughout the city, including murals, Yolkut said.

This year’s event could serve as the latest showcase for Mexico to host pre-WBC exhibitions for Team Mexico prior to pool play or serve as a host city during the tournament. Guadalajara hosted first-round pool play for the 2017 WBC (Estadio Charros de Jalisco). Mexico City last hosted first-round pool play during the 2009 WBC (Foro Sol). Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú Béisbol, which cost $167 million to build, has a capacity of more than 20,000, making it a host stadium contender. “[Mexico] is definitely on the radar for that,” Yolkut said.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said on “The Dan Patrick Show” that he’s interested in talking about fine-tuning the WBC schedule, which could return as early as 2029 or 2030. “The event was so successful this time that we need to talk about frequency, regularity of schedule,” Manfred said.

T-Mobile will serve as presenting sponsor of the Mexico City Series, which has eight total partners. Strauss is the on-field sponsor for both teams, while global partners include New Balance, Google Cloud, Zoom and Konami. Regional sponsors include LALA and Betcris.

Ask Google “buy technology accessories” and it finds no fewer than 935 million results.

Unquestionably, it’s a surging category dominated by what consumers perceive as parity products, with manufacturers desperate for differentiation. Looking for just that, Shenzhen, China-based Ugreen (market cap: $4.57 billion) has completed a sponsorship agreement with the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, which includes the designation of “Official Technology Accessory” sponsor for the upcoming season. Google couldn’t find another example of that designation.

It’s the first team sponsorship for Ugreen, although the company has used Cavaliers G Dennis Schroder as an endorser in Europe.

Ugreen will demonstrate its consumer connectivity, charging and consumer storage products through sampling and promotional giveaways on game days at a Gillette Stadium “activation zone” and on team-controlled digital and social channels. Ugreen also has rights to use Patriots and Gillette Stadium marks on product packaging and promotional items, within the Pats’ territory.

Ugreen is competing in a vibrant market. Grand View research estimates the U.S. mobile accessory market, one of the biggest sectors within tech accessories, at more than $21 billion, with projections that it will grow to over $34 billion by 2030.

The NWSL has secured yet another record expansion fee, with a consortium led by Haslam Sports Group paying $205M to bring a team to Columbus. The fee is part of the more than $300M that the ownership group expects to invest in launching the team, which also includes physical infrastructure and staffing.

HSG is joined by locally based insurance giant Nationwide and Drs. Christine and Pete Edwards. Nationwide, a longtime sponsor of both the NWSL and sports in Columbus -- including HSG’s MLS franchise, the Crew -- is taking an equity stake in a franchise for the first time. The Edwards family are co-owners of the Crew, for whom Pete previously served as team physician.

The league’s 18th franchise will debut in 2028 alongside an Atlanta team owned by Arthur Blank, who last November agreed to pay a then-record $165M expansion fee. The Columbus franchise is the second team awarded since the league and its investment bank, Inner Circle Sports, shifted to a rolling process.

NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said the rapidly increasing expansion fees reflect investor belief in the league’s continued growth potential, as well as perceived franchise scarcity and a packed slate of upcoming global soccer events.

“Owners and cities who see the demonstrated growth from a business perspective over the last several years and look on the horizon agree that there’s value to capture and that getting in now makes sense,” Berman said.

The Columbus NWSL team will play at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, the soccer-specific stadium opened by HSG in 2021 for the Crew. The ownership group plans to build a dedicated training facility at McCoy Park in Columbus’ Southwest community and make upgrades to the stadium to accommodate the new women’s team, including a new locker room.

The Columbus City Council and Franklin County Board of Commissioners have each agreed to contribute $25M to the infrastructure projects, which will be paid back with revenue from an additional tax on tickets for events at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field.

“When you see that the league is breaking records in every category -- attendance, viewership, fandom, growth -- it’s an incredibly exciting time to be involved,” said HSG Managing Partner Whitney Haslam Johnson, who will serve as the team’s governor. “We are building a women’s training facility, but in conjunction with already having a stadium built, we think it’s an incredible opportunity.”

Haslam Johnson said HSG intends to hire dedicated business and sporting staff for the NWSL team, while sharing back-office functions such as HR, legal and finance with the Crew. The specific executive structure for the club is still under consideration.

While efforts to bring a team to Columbus have intensified in recent months, Berman said the league has been in “on-and-off discussions with the Haslams since 2022.” Groups representing Ohio’s two other major metros, Cleveland and Cincinnati, were finalists during the 2024 expansion process that ended with Denver being awarded the league’s 16th team. She added that the decision not to select Cleveland or Cincinnati was unrelated to the prospect of an eventual Haslam-owned Columbus franchise.

NWSL expansion fees have nearly doubled since last January, when a group led by Rob Cohen agreed to pay $110M to bring a team to Denver, and quadrupled since two groups agreed to pay $53M in 2023 for expansion franchises in the S.F. Bay Area and Boston. As recently as 2021, NWSL expansion franchises cost around $2M. Several existing franchises have also sold at nine-figure valuations, including Angel City at $250M to Bob Iger and Willow Bay.

The NWSL earlier this year announced plans to play its annual Challenge Cup at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field this summer. The match will feature the defending champions, Gotham FC, against the reigning Shield winners, the K.C. Current.

The Nuggets, Pistons, 76ers, Bulls and Trail Blazers led the way in increases among NBA game local audiences this season, with in-market streaming continuing to make gains among viewers, sources told SBJ.

Among the 25 measurable teams, 14 NBA clubs saw local audience increases compared to last season (exact percentage declines were not available for the 25 teams). Eleven of those 14 teams with gains made the playoffs. And teams didn’t suffer from the 17 days of the Winter Olympics in February, as local NBA figures during the Milan Cortina Games stayed relatively even with the average from the four weeks prior to the Olympics.

“Fans are finding these teams no matter where they’re ending up,” said Craig Sloan, CEO of Playfly Sports. “If you look at a weighted average across the last 10 years, we’ve not seen degradation in audience. ... In the local markets, [the NBA is] still one of the top-rated programs.”

The streaming audience for local NBA games also continues to move in a positive direction. “Just two years ago, [streaming] was about 5%-6% of the audience,” noted Sloan. “It’s now over 15% of the total consumption [for local audiences]. ... We are clearly on a trajectory to be at least a third of the audience over the next couple of years.”

Ups and downs

Only one of the top five teams in season-long gains were on a Main Street Sports Group RSN — the Pistons. It was the second straight season that games on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit were in the league’s top five, but next season, the Pistons are in search of a new local TV home with Main Street folding. The Trail Blazers also were in the top five again, with their games airing OTA on Rip City Television Network and streaming on BlazerVision.

The Bulls bounced back from being one of the bottom-five teams last season, which was the club’s first on Chicago Sports Network after leaving a longtime home on NBC Sports Chicago. The 76ers also rebounded from the bottom five last season to draw a big uptick on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Looking ahead, the teams that have work to do for next season’s numbers are the Celtics, Warriors, Cavaliers, Kings and Lakers, as each of those clubs saw sharp drops for 2025-26.

Clubs that Playfly didn’t measure this season were the Nets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Raptors and Wizards. But while viewership numbers weren’t available for the Wizards, internal data from ViewLift noted that the Monumental+ network saw its DTC subs jump 141% this season, with minutes watched up 124%.

With 48 teams and a three-country host footprint across the United States, Canada and Mexico, the FIFA World Cup 2026 will be the largest edition ever. But beneath the excitement, a cultural minefield lies in wait for organizers and brands.

The American sports industry has long operated on a highly optimized domestic model, defined by premium hospitality, sponsor visibility and commercial saturation. From the Super Bowl to March Madness, U.S. properties have honed a playbook of maximizing revenue streams and branding touchpoints with a focus on immediate dividends.

But the World Cup is not the NFL or NCAA. It is a global cultural ritual, landing temporarily in host nations. It is not an American export. And therein lies the risk.

2026 will be judged by more than just revenue KPIs, evaluated instead based on legitimacy. Does it look, feel and sound like football to those who live and die by it? The opportunity is to use North America’s operational strengths and proclivity for innovation to enhance the experience, and then let the sport speak for itself.

If organizers and marketers default to saturation across branding and programming, and monetizing every possible touchpoint, they risk profoundly misreading the value behind the sport’s biggest stage.

‘Americanization’ anxiety isn’t hypothetical

FIFA has mandated three-minute hydration breaks around the 22nd minute of each half in every match, regardless of temperature. It has also confirmed broadcasters can run commercials during those breaks, creating a new midmatch advertising window.

That may sound like harmless packaging, but for a sport whose appeal is uninterrupted rhythm, the symbolism is the story. When the global audience sees a match cut away to ads, debates will rage around how capitalism is infringing on the beautiful game.

Columnist Tristan Bove warns that adding halftime-style ad breaks effectively “split the games up into quarters” and positions this as adopting “a uniquely American sports tradition.” In short, even if the ads are permitted, fans may feel the rhythm has been broken.

Inside the stadium, FIFA’s approach actually pulls in the opposite direction — but the cultural risk is the same. Reports state that host stadiums have contracted to be turned over to FIFA “free and clear” of advertising or local branding, down to seat backs, staff uniforms and accreditation. This means stadiums will be scrubbed of local team colors and sponsor signage beyond the official partners. The goal for FIFA is to support exclusive marketing rights (roughly $1.8 billion in 2026 revenue) and ensure fans aren’t bombarded by ambush marketers.

Put these two points together and the irony is stark: Viewers get American-style TV breaks and fans inside get sanitized venues with minimal local flavor. In one match day, a fan could experience too many ads and too little soul.

The social media scoreboard

Scrutiny now happens at the speed of social conversation. In 2026, any awkward commentary or tone‐deaf sponsorship moment is more likely to become a viral sensation than a footnote.

And we’ve seen the prototype, as noted by The Guardian’s critique of Fox’s 2022 coverage and the now-viral “Doha/ Dosa” gaffe. A trivial slip, but potent as a symbol of what happens when football is narrated without fluency. The same rang true when former USWNT star Carli Lloyd put Christian Pulisic alongside Messi as a potential rival.

With Concacaf countries still fighting for acceptance as legitimate powers in the global football landscape, these gaffes and associated scrutiny will be as heightened as ever before.

And this risk extends far beyond pressure for commentators.

As fans from around the world flock to the host nations, they will be on high alert for any experience, design, or interaction that feels inauthentic to the game they love.

Function over flash

But alongside these risks comes the golden opportunity to get it right, establishing powerful, long-term connections with the sports world’s most passionate consumers.

What should organizers and brands optimize for?

Move beyond tired “soccer vs. futbol” debates, embrace the nuanced, multilingual tapestry of global football traditions and most importantly, reduce friction and add value to the fan experience.

A good host anticipates fans’ needs quietly. Mexico City has already offered a proof point with Xoli — a WhatsApp chatbot built by the city government to help visitors navigate culture, tourism, gastronomy and mobility in English and Spanish. An activation that foregoes the flash, but provides a service that removes a friction point for fans.

The brands and hosts that win won’t be the loudest — they’ll be the most thoughtful. By anticipating needs, embracing cultural nuance, and embedding utility into every touchpoint, they can transform fleeting interactions into meaningful loyalty. Around the most grandeur of global sport moments, the real differentiator isn’t spectacle — it’s service.

Feelings over funnels

Beyond enhancing fan utility, the smartest commercial play in 2026 is to monetize memory. Attention is fleeting, but emotion endures long after the trophy is lifted.

When “experiences are the new form of currency” took hold in the marketing lexicon, it came with an associated challenge — look beyond the instant gratification of sales and short-term product-driven KPIs, instead focusing on creating emotion-driven memories and recall that can create a long-term brand advocate.

Nowhere is that opportunity more glaring than sports’ biggest stage. Experiences that account for localization, personalization and commemoration go beyond the transactional, instead providing an act of memory-making — a way for fans to forever capture their connection to a specific moment in time.

By putting fan service and commemoration above all self-serving brand goals and messaging, brands can not only demonstrate an authentic understanding of the beautiful game, but will unlock greater long-term value than those simply bombarding fans at every turn.

To be remembered after the final whistle, brands must invest in feelings, not funnels.

Dan Rogers is head of live (U.S.) at TBA.

• PayPal is taking the wraps off an NFL sponsorship that designates the 27-year-old brand (ancient by fintech standards) as the NFL’s initial peer-to-peer payments sponsor, reports SBJ’s Terry Lefton.
• The third phase of Barclays Center’s five-year, $150 million renovation project is kicking off, writes SBJ’s Bret McCormick, with a focus on a new atrium, box office and a sponsored entrance and lounge from American Express.
• MLB has replaced its All-Star Celebrity Softball Game with a 3-on-3 competition, a co-ed event with league All-Stars, softball stars and special guests, following the Futures Game on July 12 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, notes SBJ’s Mike Mazzeo.