ESPN's Coverage of 2014 Men's Division I Frozen Four Increases Viewership

Minneapolis-St. Paul Records Highest-Rated Hockey Game for 2013-14 Season

ESPN's presentation of the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Frozen Four - two semifinals on Thursday, April 10 on ESPN2 and the championship game on Saturday, April 12 on ESPN - averaged 471,000 viewers, a strong 56 percent increase over the 2013 Men's Frozen Four (301,000 viewers). The Frozen Four Championship Game, in which Union College defeated the University of Minnesota for its first NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey National Championship, averaged 717,000 viewers, a 33 percent increase over 2013's Division I Frozen Four Championship Game which featured Yale defeating Quinnipiac (539,000). The three telecasts of the 2014 Frozen Four combined to reach 6.6 million viewers.

WatchESPN's simulcast of the three telecasts saw a significant spike in viewership -- 2.24 million minutes watched, an 85 percent increase over 2013 (1.21 million minutes). Additionally, the Men's Frozen Four debut of ESPN3 Surround -- ice level cameras with natural sound -- generated an additional 607,000 minutes watched throughout the three games. WatchESPN is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through Xbox 360, Xbox One, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

Minneapolis-St. Paul generated a 10.6 rating Saturday night, the highest-rating for hockey in the market (October 2013-Present). Denver (1.3) was second followed by Las Vegas (0.8), Columbus (0.8), and Providence (0.7).

ESPN has televised every Men's Division I Frozen Four Championship Game since 1980 and has aired the entire Frozen Four live since 1995. The 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship was the 10th year ESPN has covered the entire tournament live.