The NHL was named Sports League of the Year at the Sports Business Awards on Wednesday.
NHL Chief Operating Officer Stephen McArdle and President, NHL Content and Events Steve Mayer accepted the award for the League at the ceremony, which is held annually by the Sports Business Journal and took place at the Marriott Marquis Times Square in New York.
The League was honored for a year in which it expanded its global footprint and elevated its stars internationally, highlighted by NHL players returning to the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014. The NHL also held its first two outdoor games in the state of Florida: the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic in Miami and the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series in Tampa.
NHL business success was anchored in the exceptional quality of play on the ice, marked by star players, competitive balance, dramatic comebacks and significant milestones.
And, of course, Alex Ovechkin’s chase of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL all-time goals record -- which culminated with him setting the mark on April 6, 2025 -- was a key moment last spring for the League.
The award comes at a time when the League is experiencing record attendance and soaring revenue, with a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that runs through 2030 and an $11 billion media rights deal with Rogers Communications in Canada.
It also comes as the League is drawing record ratings numbers during the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The second round of the playoffs delivered an average audience of 1.9 million viewers in the United States, up 55 percent from the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs (ESPN/ESPN2/TNT/TRU/TBS).
Across North America, through the second round, the playoffs were averaging 3.3 million viewers, marking the highest total North American viewership through two rounds on record (SN/CBC/ TVAS/ ESPN/ESPN2/ABC/TNT/TRU/TBS).
On Monday, Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round between the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens attracted an average audience of 8 million viewers across North America (ESPN/ SN/CBC/TVAS), making it the most-watched game of the 2026 playoffs to date in the United States. Across Canada, it was the largest combined English and French audience for a Round 2 playoff game since 2015.
Both ESPN and TNT Sports delivered their most-viewed second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs of the current rights deal.
Across the U.S., the first two rounds of the 2026 playoffs delivered an average audience of 1.4 million viewers, up 63 percent year over year. These are the most-watched Stanley Cup Playoffs on record through two rounds, beating the previous high by 24 percent (2024).
