Numbers Prove Stadium Series A Huge Success For New Jersey Devils, NHL

For anyone who went to Saturday's game between the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, they will tell you about how much of a success the Stadium Series was. It was a reminder of the glory days of Devils hockey. Many fans shared stories of Stanley Cups won, celebrations in the parking lot, and more from the days of the Continental Airlines Arena.

The nostalgia trip was amazing, and it's something the Devils should do again. Yet, despite all the positivity, there is a lot of negative sentiment among those without affiliation to the game. Many say the outdoor games have lost their luster. The Devils game was the 40th outdoor game since they were reintroduced to the concept in 2003 (and not again until 2008). Since then, more and more outdoor games have been added to the calendar.

This year, there were four total outdoor games. The first one was in October, which seems pretty early, even for Canada. However, the national media's view of this event as anything other than a success seems biased. Maybe these people who watch multiple hockey games per night don't see the value this has for a singular team. However, New Jersey went all out to make this an amazing experience.

The numbers back it up.

The Stadium Series is a massive success for the New Jersey Devils, and the attendance and viewership shows how well things went.

ESPN released viewership numbers, saying 1.13 million people watched the game on Saturday night. The average viewership for both the Devils-Flyers game and the Rangers-Islanders game was up 21% from last year's Stadium Series games (which was Capitals-Hurricanes at Carter-Finley Stadium). That alone shows the viewing public is not sharing the sentiment as some across North America.

We already knew the attendance numbers blew expectations out of the water. The announced attendance on Saturday night was 70,328. The Sunday matchup came close to 80,000 (a lot of seats were closed off for the Jonas Brother's concert before the game). Most would say the crowd was mostly Devils fans. While there was some white and orange in the crowd, it was loud for every Devils goal and a little muted for the Flyers scores (although game flow has something to do with that).

To say this past weekend was anything besides a success is just incorrect. There will always be opinions on this, but Saturday was important for Devils fans. It was the most fun this fanbase had all season. And it had nothing to do with winning the game. The experience was one of a kind. Even with it being the 40th outdoor game and the second the Devils were involved in, it still felt different than anything the Devils have done. We hope they do it again.