USA Women's Hockey Olympic Gold Medal Win vs. Canada Makes TV Ratings History
Team USA made women's hockey broadcast history with Thursday's 2-1 gold medal game victory over Canada at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
An average of 5.3 million viewers tuned in to watch the matchup, with a peak of 7.7 million viewers watching as Megan Keller scored in overtime to clinch the win for the United States, per NBC Sports.
That set an all-time record for the most-watched women's hockey game of all time, according to NBC Sports.
Team USA overcame a late deficit to Canada when captain Hilary Knight deflected in a tying goal with just over two minutes left in regulation.
Keller then scored 4:07 into regulation to complete the comeback against the defending champions and secure Team USA's third women's hockey Olympic gold.
The game capped off what was already a strong day for NBCUniversal, which reported the most Winter Olympics weekday viewership since 2014 with an average of 26.7 million viewers during Thursday's afternoon live coverage.
That coverage included the women's free skate, in which Team USA's Alysa Liu became the first American woman since 2006 to win individual figure skating gold.
As of Thursday the 2026 Olympics were averaging 24.1 million daily viewers on broadcast and streaming, making this the most-watched Winter Olympics broadcast since the 2014 Sochi Games, according to NBC.
