TV Ratings: USA Hockey Win Drew 20.7M Viewers

NBC has released the TV ratings for the 2026 Winter Olympics men's hockey gold medal game Sunday. 

The game featured Team USA defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime, marking the U.S. men's first Olympic hockey gold since the 1980 "Miracle on Ice."

According to NBCUniversal's official press release and widespread reporting:

• The game averaged 20.7 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and USA Network (including encores/replays that added about 2.1 million more viewers).
• Live coverage on NBC and Peacock (from 8:15 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET) averaged 18.6 million viewers.
• It peaked at 26.0 million viewers during the overtime period, specifically when Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal.Key highlights from NBC:This was the most-watched pre-9 a.m. ET starting sporting event in U.S. history.

It ranks as NBC Sports' second-most watched hockey game ever, behind only the 2010 Vancouver Olympics men's gold medal game (USA vs. Canada, which drew 27.6 million viewers at a more viewer-friendly 3:15 p.m. ET start time).

The early morning time slot (due to the Milan-Cortina, Italy, location) made these numbers particularly impressive, as viewership for early ET events typically drops off significantly. The thrilling U.S.-Canada rivalry matchup, combined with streaming on Peacock (which contributed significantly, including a record 3.7 million digital viewers for NBC Sports outside of NFL), helped drive the strong performance.

This capped off a successful Olympics for NBC, with overall Winter Games viewership averaging 23.5 million (up 96% from Beijing 2022 and the highest since Sochi 2014), boosted by Team USA's record 12 gold medals including both men's and women's hockey golds over Canada.