The St. Louis Blues fan base continues to prove its worth to national broadcasting companies like NBC. Records continue to be smashed as fans are tuning into every precious moment.
St. Louis Blues fans have always known they were some of the most passionate fans in the country. The only thing lacking was the recognition from outside our own little group.
Even within the city of St. Louis, it is hard not to feel dwarfed at times. Many Blues fans are also St. Louis Cardinals fans, but not all Cardinals fans reciprocate.
There has never really been bad blood between the two. The problem has been more like being treated as the younger sibling, with the occasional pat on the head for passing the time between baseball seasons.
Cardinals fans are sometimes interested in the Blues. However, they usually have to rely on true Blues fans to let them know if there is a game that night or what happened the previous evening.
It’s always been easy to spot Cardinals fans and many just assume that almost the entire region wears Cardinal red all the time. However, Blues fans tend to hide in the shadows. It is not because they are afraid to show their passion, but more due to a general lack of knowledge about the sport from our neighbors.
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There are Blues fans everywhere. You would be shocked to know how many people love and follow the sport in the outer regions (according to city dwellers) like DeSoto, Farmington, Barnhart, Arnold, Cedar Hill, Festus and so many more areas.
Sometimes those fans get forgotten because of the area they live in. Even the team itself focuses most of its activities and player visits on West County and St. Louis country because the perception is they have money so they can afford to like hockey.
Blues fans, however, cover a much larger and diverse swath than most would assume. They are proving it to the franchise and to the country.
St. Louis dominated the ratings as far as the percentage of households watching the Stanley Cup Final Game 1. Even prior to that, records seemed to be set in viewership almost every series in 2019.
According to the Post-Dispatch, the Blues first game in the Final in 49 years was watched by 29% of the homes in the St. Louis market.
That number may sound low, but when you consider the multitude of shows and channels to watch these days, it is a staggering number. For comparison, Boston had 25% of their households watch. Kansas City, which is roughly a four-hour drive from the STL, even chipped in with a 5.2 rating, which was fifth in the country.
Blues fans are tuning in to see how their beloved team does and setting records in the process. The last time the viewership was that high was way back in 1991 and that was because the game was on KPLR 11, which was free to all homes whether you had cable or not.
What is even more amazing is the fact those numbers are that high when so many hockey fans are going out to public places to watch these games. Blues fans are showing up in droves or flocks or throngs all over the place.
Ballpark Village has regularly been packed for watch parties, whether the game was at home or on the road, during this playoff run. Sports Bars, regular bars and any restaurant with a television typically sees a large increase in traffic on game nights.
Then, there are the watch parties at Enterprise Center. For Game 5 of the conference finals against San Jose, roughly 10,000-plus showed up to the arena to watch a hockey game that was half a country away.
The numbers almost doubled for the first game in Boston. Depending on who you read, anywhere from 14-18,000 packed the Enterprise Center for Game 1 of the final. Those numbers are fluid, but the bottom line is the arena was sold out for a watch party.
That is well over 10,000 fans packed into one place not being counted toward the national television ratings. That shows you that fans are still passionately tuning in wherever they can.
The watch party for Game 2 is expected to be a sell out as well. Blues fans might be disappointed with the result of their first crack at a Stanley Cup game win, but they won’t show it in terms of television sets tuned in.
St. Louis might be considered small time by the big media corporations. Blues fans are showing them that they are not just fly-over territory and are worth noticing too. Now, we just need a win, so all Blues fans can truly be rewarded for watching.