The Colorado Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup wrapped the first year of ABC/ESPN coverage of the sport in their seven-year deal. Indicators from the season, the playoffs and now the Final are positive for all involved.

The Stanley Cup Final averaged 4.6 million viewers for the six-game series between the Avalanche and the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning. That represents an increase in viewership of 83% from last year’s Final between the Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens. An average of 2.5 million viewers tuned in for that series on NBC and NBC Sports Network.

The Final this year is also up from 2020’s Stanley Cup Final that had the Tampa Bay Lightning square-off with the Dallas Stars. Just 2.1 million viewers tuned in for that peak-pandemic series.

The only cold water to pour onto this fire is in comparing the numbers to the last Stanley Cup Final before the pandemic, in 2019. That series was between the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins. That series went seven games and drew 5.5 million viewers on average. This year’s Final represents a16% drop from that series.

A native of Portland, Brenna Greene is taking the opportunity to return home and cover sports as a sports anchor and reporter.

Greene is leaving KREM2 in Spokane, Washington and her post as Sports Director. She tweeted about the news and attached a note of gratitude and excitement for the change in scenery.

“Finally, I want to thank the community. You all accepted me for who I am, zaniness and all. I hope you learned something from me every day and had fun to boot. That was the goal.”

Greene also added the news of where she was going and the reasoning behind, saying in part, “…I’ve accepted a a sports anchor/reporter role at KOIN in Portland, which is where I was born and raised for 18 years. I’m so excited to cover the teams I was raised on in my youth along with the new teams that have come over the 12 years I have been away.”

The USFL appears to be headed for a second season in 2023, and Fox Sports will be along for the ride.

The network will continue to be a USFL TV partner next year, according to Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks. Shanks is the chairman of the league’s board of directors.

Between Fox and NBC, game broadcasts in the league’s inaugural season averaged 695,000 viewers.

The league does not plan to add new teams for 2023, but Shanks indicated the league is planning to have regular season games played in other cities, not just Birmingham, Alabama where this season was held.

Shanks did say there is a desire to add more teams potentially in 2024 as well as having teams play in their home cities.

The USFL championship game will be this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. between the Philadelphia Stars and the Birmingham Stallions. The game will air on FOX.