U.S. Hockey Gold Medal Win Breaks TV Record, Averages Over 20 Million Viewers

TMZ Staff ^ | February 24, 2026

[ConservativeStatement]

A TON of American fans set their alarms to catch the Red, White and Blue's gold medal win ... with NBC announcing the 2026 Winter Olympics finale averaged 20.7 million viewers!!

The folks over at the Peacock released the numbers for the contest on Tuesday ... saying the game was the most-watched pre-9 AM ET sporting event in U.S. history.

[montag813]

But here’s the irony: Most of the “Canadian” players live full-time in the US.

And the hero U.S. goalie plays for Winnipeg, and the Florida Panthers are mostly Canadians and Russians.

[montag813]

those drone shots of the skiers going down the mountain courses were just amazing...the Italian Alps were spectacular. Considering the always annoying time difference, its was all a pretty good show.

Drones in ski jumping and luge/bobsled also amazing.

[montag813]

I heard that Hockey’s popularity in Canada is waning, especially among the immigrant population, and the white liberals, who see it as the sport for “rednecks”.

Yep. Eventually cricket and soccer will be more popular.

[CDB]

Yep. Eventually cricket and soccer will be more popular.

And rugby, too. Their women's sevens team won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and their women's fifteens team won a silver in last year's Rugby World Cup in NZ. Canada's men's rugby teams aren't very successful.

[Ezekiel]

Stop, my head hurts<<<

Ah sorry ‘bout that!

I neglected to mention the most important one of all, the

Sha’ar ha-nun, the 50th Goal of Understanding, a famous yet elusive destination:

“The highest level humanly possible is 49 gates; it is God Who enables a person to make the final leap from 49 to 50. The human being who passed through the full 49 gates was Moshe.[34] However, the final 50th gate still lay beyond his grasp. The secret of this ultimate step would lie within the secret nature of Yovel.[35] – yovel: year 50”

https://aish.com/who-knows-50/

😇

[Alberta's Child]

Ah, yes — the ultimate peasant sport.

[ViLaLuz]

The online live stream has so many viewers they crashed it. I had to shut it off to get to church on time so switched to the radio. When Hughes scored I almost crashed the car!

[9YearLurker]

A few world cup matches? Likely not an Olympics final in a major American sport.

[TalBlack]

I recall reading a while back that NHL hockey had a higher proportion of female fans than the other American sports, for reasons no one could figure.