This year, the National Hockey League (NHL) replaced its traditional all star game format with an international tournament called the Four Nations Faceoff.
The league’s best players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States faced off in a round robin format, with Canada winning in the championship game over the U.S. in overtime
Many were skeptical about the Four Nations at first. The NHL has continued to lose its viewers during All-Star Weekend, but expectations were shattered.
These games brought in millions of viewers across North America and the rest of the world. In the championship game alone, over 10 million viewers tuned in. This is a massive increase in viewership from the 2024 All Star Game, which saw just under 1.4 million viewers tune in, an almost 900% increase in viewership.
Like the usual NHL All Star Game, the NFL and NBA have seen decreased viewership over the past year.
This month, the NFL and NBA had their all star events, and they were not good. The NFL Pro Bowl lost a million viewers from 2024, while the NBA All Star Game averaged 4.7 million, a decrease from last year.
The Pro Bowl saw a flurry of replacements, as many opted out. For instance, 2024-25 MVP Josh Allen opted out, while MVP finalist Lamar Jackson also did not participate in the weekend’s festivities. The flag football style gameplay has fallen short of many’s expectations. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still fun to see the league’s best duke it out, but in flag football
In all honesty, fans don’t want to watch flag football, or a 3-vs-3 format tournament between players who are not going to give it their all, and the ratings show it.
Every game during the Four Nations kept you on your seat. Whether it be the multiple overtime thrillers, or the three fights in the round robin game between the U.S. and Canada, these games meant a lot.
Players gave it their all, with fights and hard hits throughout the tournament. Quite frankly, it was the best international hockey we have seen in almost a decade, with the 2016 World Cup of Hockey being the last time NHLers were able to play in an international tournament.
The Four Nations is a blueprint on what professional sports in the U.S. should be doing for their all star games.
The NBA and NFL specifically will continue to lose their fanbase when it comes to all star games, unless they reestablish games that really matter to both fans and players alike.