Scripps Sports Distribution More Than Doubles Vegas Golden Knights’ TV Ratings From Last Season

Ratings for the first five locally broadcast NHL Vegas Golden Knights games are up 135% compared to all major cable telecasts last season, after the team moved its distribution to Scripps Sports, the company says.

The reigning NHL Stanley Cup champions are drawing an average 8.5 household rating in Las Vegas, according to Comscore data. The Golden Knights games, which broadcast on Scripps’ new independent station Vegas 34 (KMCC), were played on Oct. 12, 14, 17, 19 and 21.

The highest-rated game was Oct. 21 against Dallas (10.5 rating). That means 10.5% of all the households in the Las Vegas TV market watched that game. KMCC’s signal reaches households watching TV over the air, which has significantly broadened the team’s audience reach from its exclusive cable distribution in past years.

The 135% growth on KMCC compares to local viewership for all 2022-23 Vegas Golden Knights regular-season games aired on ESPN and TNT.

“The viewership and engagement we are seeing for the Golden Knights this year have grown incredibly and should dispel any doubts about the power of an over-the-air broadcast channel to serve sports fans,” Scripps Sports President Brian Lawlor said. “The Golden Knights wanted to reach more of their fans, and they clearly are.”

“This partnership with Scripps Sports has allowed more of our fans to access our games on TV than ever before,” Golden Knights President Kerry Bubolz said. “With the team’s success as defending Stanley Cup champions and our 9-0-1 start, we couldn’t have asked for a better time to provide this enhanced access for our fans in the Las Vegas Valley and beyond.”

In addition to distribution on KMCC, the Scripps Sports-produced games are available locally through a new direct-to-consumer streaming app, KnightTime+.

Through the first three weeks of the season, Golden Knights games are averaging more than 1 million minutes of streaming per week on KnightTime+, which was developed by ViewLift in partnership with Scripps Sports and the Golden Knights.

“Engagement with our direct-to-consumer app is well ahead of our projections,” Bubolz said. “The Golden Knights have a dedicated fan base. We are thrilled to make games available on multiple platforms, allowing our fans to access games on any device, serving them wherever they are.”