“I mean, it’s incredible. I just hope everybody enjoyed watching the game. It was a lot of fun for us to play in,” said Team Canada’s Cole Makar, who plays for the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL after the final. The event in question was none other than the 4 Nations Face-Off, which saw the USA, Canada, Finland, and Sweden battle for the NHL’s first international competition in years.

Makar was certainly right in hoping that the fans enjoyed the spectacle. After all, the last time hockey fans had seen their favorite NHL players represent their nations on the national stage was way back in 2016 during the Hockey World Cup. Incidentally, what drove up the hype for the 4 Nations Face-Off final was the national anthem tensions that prevailed between USA and Canadian fans. The result? Historic viewership and incredible ratings, especially now, when you compare it with the NBA finals.

Is the NHL coming for the NBA’s crown?

This year’s NBA final series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers was an exhilarating affair. After six games and three wins apiece, it all came down to the wire in a winner-takes-all game 7. And it was the Oklahoma City Thunder who took charge, winning Game 7 with 103 to the Pacers’ 91 points. It was a night of historic achievements.

The Thunder won their first NBA title since relocating from Seattle, and the team’s star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capped off his season with an equally impressive achievement. Signing off with 29 points and 12 assists in the finale, the Point Guard became only the 5th player with a 20-10 performance in Game 7 in the NBA Finals, as per ESPN. So you’d think such an exhilarating series would ace the viewership numbers, but that’s where the story flips.

Despite the gritty series and the storylines, Game 7 averaged 16.35 million viewers. Now that’s the most watched Game 7 since 2019, but that’s not the whole story. Despite the achievement, the series’ average dropped by 9.3% to 10.27 million from last year, as per Front Office Sport’s Colin Salao. Now, even if we take the Game 7 numbers, the NHL’s 4 Nations Final was just 0.25 million behind the NBA final, with 16.1 million tuning in (9.3 million in the US and 6.3 million in Canada).

Yet, what about the peak viewership of the NBA final, you ask? Well, as per the official NBA website, viewership peaked at 19.3 million viewers at 9:45 p.m. ET. Now, that’s not a huge difference. What’s more impressive is when we compare the relative growth. While the NBA lost 9.3% series viewership, the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off saw some mind-boggling jumps.

The hockey tournament averaged 6.5 million viewers across North America alone. While that pales in comparison to the NBA final, it was a 25% from the 2016 Hockey World Cup viewership. While the event certainly had its critics when it was first announced, the NHL has seen its success. However, that also raises another question.

Can the 4 Nations maintain the momentum?

There’s no two ways about it that the NBA finals viewership took a significant hit after the 2016 high. Colin Salao’s own chart tracing the NBA finals viewership over the past few decades shows a massive dip after 2016. That year, the Warriors vs. Cavaliers Game 7 in the NBA finals saw a whopping 31 million people tune in. This year, that number is down to half, barely crossing 16.3 million.

This isn’t the first time the NBA finals viewership has seen a big dip. Salao’s chart shows big dips during the 200s. However, the number also recovered quickly, unlike the current overall downturn. And that raised the momentum question of the 4 Nations Face-Off as well. Although the 4 Nations found immense success, a lot of factors went into the hype.

The first was the fans being excited to see NHL players in an international tournament after 9 years. Then came the heightened tensions between the US and Canada fans. In fact, even unbelievably loved players like Sidney Crosby drew some criticism for not going with the fan sentiments. “I’m not going to get into that. We respect the anthems, and I’ll leave it at that,” said Crosby.

However, that tension no longer exists. While that doesn’t really dilute the U.S. and Canada rivalry, the intensity has certainly receded for now. So the question is: will the 4 Nations Face-off losing its ‘inaugural’ novelty affect the second edition’s viewership? Well, the NHL hasn’t announced anything about a second edition of the 4 Nations Face-Off. However, looking at its success, it’s difficult to imagine the league will leave so much viewership potential on the table. Then again, only time will tell if the NBA downturn continues and the 4 Nations becomes the bigger event.