Sergey Butov

International business development & partnerships. @NHL. @Columbia alum // Tweets in English & Siberian. Views my own

[IOC MEDIA @iocmedia]

The IOC Executive Board has provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee. Recommendations to International Federations with regard to Russian athletes’ participation are no longer applicable.

Read: https://t.co/k9FlApULU5

[Front Office Sports @FOS]

The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 2.2M viewers across ESPN networks, up 127% from 2025 and 19% from 2024.

It marks the most-watched postseason in NHL history.

[ESPN PR @ESPNPR]

This past Sunday's #StanleyCup Final matchup delivered the most-viewed Game 6 since '19 (5.9M viewers)

🏒 The '26 Stanley Cup Final was the most-viewed series since '19 with 5.2M avg. viewers

More: https://t.co/qODl0ilYAu

[NHL @NHL]

YOUR 2026 #STANLEYCUP CHAMPIONS!! 📸

[Front Office Sports @FOS]

The NHL’s ratings surge is continuing into the Stanley Cup Final.

The first round averaged 1.8 million viewers, up 68% from 2025. The second round averaged 1.9 million viewers, up 55% year over year and setting an NHL playoff record.

[Vfynn_🥷🏼 𐙚 @Vfynn_]

🚨🎙️ Thierry Henry on FIFA turning the World Cup Final into a Super Bowl circus:

“Football is losing its soul little by little. A World Cup Final is supposed to be the purest form of football, pressure, intensity, emotion, tactics, suffering, history. Not a halftime concert made for social media clips and celebrities in vip seats.

When you play at the highest level, your body is programmed around rhythm. Fifteen minutes. That’s what every footballer in the world has known since childhood. Your muscles stay warm, your concentration stays locked in, your emotions stay alive. Now imagine players sitting there for 25 minutes during the biggest game of their lives because FIFA wants a bigger TV spectacle.

People think footballers are robots. They are not. Momentum is real. If one team is dominating before halftime, that long break can completely kill the intensity of the game. It changes everything tactically and mentally. You cool down physically, you lose adrenaline, and then people expect players to immediately return playing at 100 miles per hour.

And let’s be honest here, this is not about football, it’s about money and entertainment. They want football to become the Super Bowl. More commercials, more performances, more headlines, more celebrities. But football became the biggest sport in the world without all of that. The game itself was enough.

The dangerous part is that if the final quality drops or players get injured because of these changes, fans will attack the players first. They will say certain stars disappeared in the second half or failed under pressure, without understanding the conditions were completely changed for a television show.

For me, the World Cup Final should feel sacred. Ninety minutes of war between the best players on earth. Not a pause long enough for the world to forget the match is even happening.”

[Front Office Sports @FOS]

The NHL first-round ratings are up nearly 70% year over year.

The boost is driven by record viewership for both ESPN and TNT Sports, which each posted their most-watched first round of their current NHL media rights deals.

[NHL Public Relations @NHLPR]

It was an electric opening weekend of the 2026 #StanleyCup Playoffs.

[NHL Public Relations @NHLPR]

The @NHL and @NHLPA, together with Live Nation, announced the 2026 #NHLGlobalSeries Finland today, a pair of regular-season games between the @Canes and @SeattleKraken at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki, Finland, November 12 and November 14, 2026.

More details: https://t.co/XZg3yRlHMG

[NHL @NHL]

OVI x 1,000 🚨

Alex Ovechkin joins Wayne Gretzky as the second player in NHL history to score 1,000 career goals in the regular season and #StanleyCup Playoffs combined!

[Pierre LeBrun @PierreVLeBrun]

Bettman says 28 cities bid on World Cup, 18 in North America, 10 in Europe.

[NHL Public Relations @NHLPR]

World Cup of Hockey 2028 is headed to Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta, Canada and Prague, Czechia. The expanded, eight-nation international best-on-best tournament will be held in February 2028.

Details: https://t.co/h5G0olgsPw #WCOH

[Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC]

World Cup round-robin play will be in Prague & Calgary

Semifinals & Final will be in Edmonton

[Sergey Butov @sergeybutov]

Can’t wait!!

[NHL @NHL]

Calgary, Edmonton, and Prague will be the hosts for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey! #WCOH

[NHL Public Relations @NHLPR]

The @NHL and @NHLPA today announced details of their joint long-term international growth strategy in Germany, which includes 2026 #NHLGlobalSeries Germany featuring the @Senators and @NHLBlackhawks (Dec. 18 & Dec. 20).

Details: https://t.co/BEIyt7TW4q

[NHL Public Relations @NHLPR]

For the first time, the @NHL will host four “Hockey Day” celebrations in Europe, with events heading to Sweden, Czechia, Germany and Finland starting this weekend.

Each event includes fan-focused activities and a prime-time viewing party involving European NHL stars.

[Sergey Butov @sergeybutov]

Love this quote. What a final game, what a tournament it has been... #Olympics2026

[Mollie Walker @MollieeWalkerr]

Team USA’s🇺🇸 head coach Mike Sullivan on the construction of this lineup: “The team was built with personality in mind… There are whiskey drinkers and milk drinkers, and we got a lot of whiskey drinkers.”

🥃🥛😁

[New York Rangers @NYRangers]

For all the highlight-reel plays, countless smiles and unforgettable moments - thank you, Bread, for seven outstanding seasons as a New York Ranger.

[Spittin' Chiclets @spittinchiclets]

FEDOROV’S 91 IS FINALY IN THE RED WINGS RAFTERS! 👏

[Sergey Butov @sergeybutov]

For obvious reasons, Red Wings were my favorite NHL team growing up in the 90's. And Sergei Fedorov my favorite player on that phenomenal team. What an honor to have your jersey retired by an Original Six organization!

[Detroit Red Wings @DetroitRedWings]

91.