Opinion: Is ESPN hurting the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

The Stanley Cup playoffs are in full swing and the channels that people are able to watch are ESPN and TNT.

While people are in love with TNT‘s coverage of the playoffs because of the announcers and stacked crew they have during intermissions, some aren’t the biggest fan of ESPN’s coverage.

People argue many things such as announcers, starting time of games and even how ESPN works, including its app.

However, I don’t believe that ESPN’s coverage is hurting the Stanley Cup playoffs as there isn't much negative about their broadcast and it’s generally positive.

While some critics will bring up past hockey coverages, ESPN has done a very good job in increasing productive broadcast and increased viewership numbers.

For example, during the second round of last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, ESPN saw a 36% increase in viewership, which shows how much they have developed since the start of their playoff hockey coverage.

And while some believe that hockey shouldn’t be broadcasted this much on ESPN and that it is a very niche sport. The increased viewership on ESPN shows otherwise and suggests that there is a growing interest in hockey, especially during the Stanley Cup.

Most people would think that any playoff game in any sport would be broadcasted solely on ESPN because of the importance of the matchup.

However, there is some evidence that shows that ESPN may be treating hockey a lot differently than some other sports currently going on.

For example, in the first round matchup between Toronto and Ottawa, many people were anticipating this game only because it was a playoff game but because it was between two Canadian teams.

ESPN said that they should have more coverage over local markets, especially for the first round of the NHL playoffs, but the first round matchup between Toronto and Ottawa was broadcasted on ESPN2.

But, the reason that this highly anticipated NHL playoff matchup wasn’t on ESPN was not because it was being replaced by an NBA playoff game, but because it was being replaced by a regular season baseball game.

A lot of people were not happy about this because they felt that any playoff game should be taken most into consideration in terms of what should be broadcasted on ESPN and what should be broadcasted on ESPN2.

And even though ESPN has increased their viewership in terms of the NHL playoffs over the last few years, their viewers are still not buying that ESPN is trying to become a major NHL partner.

Some people are even going out of their way to say that ESPN hates the NHL and that their coverage is unwatchable.

And it’s not even ESPN themselves who were receiving a lot of hate from fans, but it’s even the announcers of the games such as John Buccigross and Sean McDonough

In conclusion, ESPN’s coverage has been nothing but good in my opinion and their coverage has shown that there is a growing interest in hockey and that viewership will continue to grow as ESPN continues to cover the NHL playoffs.

Massimo Buonagurio is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at mkb6750@psu.edu.