There were obstacles against it, like a January 2nd date instead of New Year’s Day, and a two-hour time delay, but the NHL’s 2012 Winter Classic featuring the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers still drew the lowest overnight in the history of the event.

According to Sports Business Daily (reg. required), NBC drew a 2.4 overnight rating. While this is still more than double what any indoor hockey game would draw and very solid for any January 2nd NHL game, this is the lowest overnight rating for any of the first five, and down 15% from last year’s primetime edition of the game. The game faced heavy competition, including the Outback Bowl on ABC, which drew a 5.0, and the 9.0 overnight for the Rose Bowl on ESPN.

Winter Classic Overnights
2008, Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo, 1/1/08: 2.6
2009, Detroit vs. Chicago, 1/1/09: 2.9
2010, Philadelphia vs. Boston, 1/1/10: 2.6
2011, Washington vs. Pittsburgh, 1/1/11: 2.8
2012, NY Rangers vs. Philadelphia, 1/2/12: 2.4

UPDATED: The local numbers are in. The game drew an 11.9 overnight in Philadelphia, doubling what the first Winter Classic the Flyers participated in scored in the market. New York came up with a 4.3 rating. This was by far the highest rated game in New York in a long time (including playoffs, if I’m not mistaken) but still about the equivalent to a mid-season Yankees game. It was also well below the number the Knicks drew on TNT for their Christmas Day showdown with the Celtics, which scored a 7.2, though it was against literally no competition.