Switzerland’s National League and SC Bern lead the European attendance ranking once again.
photo: Matt Zambonin / HHOF-IIHF Images
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has published its annual attendance study after a one-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For comparability the numbers traditionally focus on the regular season.
In Europe SC Bern has been leading the average attendance figures since 2002 and this hasn’t changed. Switzerland’s National League also remains Europe’s league with the highest average attendance and second worldwide behind the NHL.
However, there were major shifts in the second hockey season of the Covid-19 pandemic with restrictions being differently strict in the countries and regions of the world’s leading hockey clubs.
Compared to the last numbers in 2020 numbers have declined due to Covid-19 but to a very different extent depending on the league.
Scroll down to see the rankings including Europe’s top-100 clubs.
In North America the numbers went down by 9% in the NHL and by 16% in the AHL with some franchises having little to no effect while others were hit by capacity restrictions. Instead of the traditional leaders from Chicago and Montreal whose numbers were hit by restrictions, the NHL attendance ranking saw this year four clubs on top that were able to play in full arenas with Tampa, Washington, Minnesota and Nashville.
In average 15,841 spectators came to the arenas in the NHL (compared to 17,423 in 2020). The AHL is second in North America and fourth worldwide an average of 4,652 spectators.
Switzerland’s National League was one of the less affected leagues in Europe by Covid-19 since capacity restrictions were lifted in the country, however, access to the arenas were for most of the regular season restricted to persons holding a vaccination or recovery certificate. As a result the average attendance shrank by 13% from 7,074 to 6,139 and since this was one of the smallest decreases, Switzerland clearly leads the European leagues in attendance. Most clubs in Switzerland and in Europe had declining numbers due to entry restrictions with the exception of Fribourg-Gotteron and Ambri-Piotta thanks to their renewed respectively newly-built arenas and HC Ajoie as the promoted team.
In Sweden, second in the ranking, the numbers went down by 22% to 4,738 fans in average. Since other leagues were more affected, the SHL moved from fourth to second place overtaking the German DEL (3,059, -53%) and the Russia-based KHL (2,382, -63%). The KHL saw the biggest decline in numbers among top leagues due to capacity restrictions in most of its regions. Only the Slovak Extraliga was hit harder and moved out of the top-10 with 770 fans in average (-68%).
The big winner in the ranking was the Elite Ice Hockey League from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Numbers only decreased by 5% and with an average of 2,885 spectators the Brits were fourth in the European ranking behind Switzerland, Sweden and Germany but before powerhouses Finland, Czechia and the KHL.
In Finland most clubs lost in attendance (32% in average) due to restrictions. Two notable exepctions are Ilves and Tappara. The two clubs from Tampere moved to the brand-new Nokia Arena during the season, which will also serve as main venue for the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
While SC Bern continues to lead Europe’s attendance ranking with an average of 13,348 fans at its home games, there has been major shifts due to capacity restrictions respectively the lack thereof behind the club from the Swiss capital. SC Bern is also the only team reaching five digits while in 2020 a record number of eight clubs in Europe averaged more than 10,000 spectators.
The new Number 2 in Europe is Frolunda Gothenburg with 8,531 spectators, which is a strong decline for the club in numbers (it had 10,579 in 2020) but a move from seventh to second place in the ranking. Frolunda is the first Swedish club reaching second place since the ranking was introduced in 2001. The place behind SC Bern had usually been taken by clubs from the KHL or DEL.
Swiss clubs Fribourg-Gotteron, ZSC Lions Zurich and EV Zug complete Europe’s top-five.
The new Number 6 in the ranking comes from a country few people would expect that high. With an average attendance of 6,693 fans (slightly more than last year) the Sheffield Steelers from Great Britain moved from 28th to 6th place.
Kolner Haie from Cologne remains the best-attended German club but dropped to 7th place due to restrictions, Dynamo Minsk from Belarus was 8th and the KHL club with the highest attendance. Lausanne HC from Switzerland and Farjestad Karlstad from Sweden complete this Europe’s top-10.
From second-tier clubs HV71 Jonkoping from Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan had the highest attendance and moved up to 19th place.
Although Covid-19 and capacity restrictions are still plaguing professional hockey, the numbers in the regular season – and even more during spring in the playoffs – show a big improvement compared to the 2020/2021 season when many games had to be played in empty arenas or entire championships be cancelled and that hockey fans are eager to come back to the arenas.
Most of the world’s professional leagues in men’s ice hockey could be played this season with the exception of the Asia League, which was cancelled for the second consecutive years due to travel restrictions that hit professional hockey in the Far East. Japanese clubs played within the country while of China’s professional teams in men’s ice hockey only Kunlun Red Star remained active this season. The Beijing-based KHL club played its home games of the KHL in Mytishi in the Moscow Region due to travel restrictions.
Next on the list for hockey fans will be the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Tampere and Helsinki, Finland where fans will be back at the arena and can gather in fan zones in these great hockey cities. While some games are sold out, tickets are still available through the official website.
In Europe SC Bern has been leading the average attendance figures since 2002 and this hasn’t changed. Switzerland’s National League also remains Europe’s league with the highest average attendance and second worldwide behind the NHL.
However, there were major shifts in the second hockey season of the Covid-19 pandemic with restrictions being differently strict in the countries and regions of the world’s leading hockey clubs.
Compared to the last numbers in 2020 numbers have declined due to Covid-19 but to a very different extent depending on the league.
Scroll down to see the rankings including Europe’s top-100 clubs.
In North America the numbers went down by 9% in the NHL and by 16% in the AHL with some franchises having little to no effect while others were hit by capacity restrictions. Instead of the traditional leaders from Chicago and Montreal whose numbers were hit by restrictions, the NHL attendance ranking saw this year four clubs on top that were able to play in full arenas with Tampa, Washington, Minnesota and Nashville.
In average 15,841 spectators came to the arenas in the NHL (compared to 17,423 in 2020). The AHL is second in North America and fourth worldwide an average of 4,652 spectators.
Switzerland’s National League was one of the less affected leagues in Europe by Covid-19 since capacity restrictions were lifted in the country, however, access to the arenas were for most of the regular season restricted to persons holding a vaccination or recovery certificate. As a result the average attendance shrank by 13% from 7,074 to 6,139 and since this was one of the smallest decreases, Switzerland clearly leads the European leagues in attendance. Most clubs in Switzerland and in Europe had declining numbers due to entry restrictions with the exception of Fribourg-Gotteron and Ambri-Piotta thanks to their renewed respectively newly-built arenas and HC Ajoie as the promoted team.
In Sweden, second in the ranking, the numbers went down by 22% to 4,738 fans in average. Since other leagues were more affected, the SHL moved from fourth to second place overtaking the German DEL (3,059, -53%) and the Russia-based KHL (2,382, -63%). The KHL saw the biggest decline in numbers among top leagues due to capacity restrictions in most of its regions. Only the Slovak Extraliga was hit harder and moved out of the top-10 with 770 fans in average (-68%).
The big winner in the ranking was the Elite Ice Hockey League from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Numbers only decreased by 5% and with an average of 2,885 spectators the Brits were fourth in the European ranking behind Switzerland, Sweden and Germany but before powerhouses Finland, Czechia and the KHL.
In Finland most clubs lost in attendance (32% in average) due to restrictions. Two notable exepctions are Ilves and Tappara. The two clubs from Tampere moved to the brand-new Nokia Arena during the season, which will also serve as main venue for the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
While SC Bern continues to lead Europe’s attendance ranking with an average of 13,348 fans at its home games, there has been major shifts due to capacity restrictions respectively the lack thereof behind the club from the Swiss capital. SC Bern is also the only team reaching five digits while in 2020 a record number of eight clubs in Europe averaged more than 10,000 spectators.
The new Number 2 in Europe is Frolunda Gothenburg with 8,531 spectators, which is a strong decline for the club in numbers (it had 10,579 in 2020) but a move from seventh to second place in the ranking. Frolunda is the first Swedish club reaching second place since the ranking was introduced in 2001. The place behind SC Bern had usually been taken by clubs from the KHL or DEL.
Swiss clubs Fribourg-Gotteron, ZSC Lions Zurich and EV Zug complete Europe’s top-five.
The new Number 6 in the ranking comes from a country few people would expect that high. With an average attendance of 6,693 fans (slightly more than last year) the Sheffield Steelers from Great Britain moved from 28th to 6th place.
Kolner Haie from Cologne remains the best-attended German club but dropped to 7th place due to restrictions, Dynamo Minsk from Belarus was 8th and the KHL club with the highest attendance. Lausanne HC from Switzerland and Farjestad Karlstad from Sweden complete this Europe’s top-10.
From second-tier clubs HV71 Jonkoping from Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan had the highest attendance and moved up to 19th place.
Although Covid-19 and capacity restrictions are still plaguing professional hockey, the numbers in the regular season – and even more during spring in the playoffs – show a big improvement compared to the 2020/2021 season when many games had to be played in empty arenas or entire championships be cancelled and that hockey fans are eager to come back to the arenas.
Most of the world’s professional leagues in men’s ice hockey could be played this season with the exception of the Asia League, which was cancelled for the second consecutive years due to travel restrictions that hit professional hockey in the Far East. Japanese clubs played within the country while of China’s professional teams in men’s ice hockey only Kunlun Red Star remained active this season. The Beijing-based KHL club played its home games of the KHL in Mytishi in the Moscow Region due to travel restrictions.
Next on the list for hockey fans will be the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Tampere and Helsinki, Finland where fans will be back at the arena and can gather in fan zones in these great hockey cities. While some games are sold out, tickets are still available through the official website.
Attendance Rankings
| Attendance figures in European hockey leagues 2021/2022 | ||
| Rank | Club | Attendance |
| 1. (1.) | SC Bern (SUI) | 13,348 |
| 2. (7.) | Frolunda Gothenburg (SWE) | 8,531 |
| 3. (35.) | Fribourg-Gotteron (SUI) | 8,324 |
| 4. (9.) | ZSC Lions Zurich (SUI) | 8,020 |
| 5. (21.) | EV Zug (SUI) | 6,708 |
| 6. (28.) | Sheffield Steelers (GBR) | 6,693 |
| 7. (3.) | Kolner Haie (GER) | 6,679 |
| 8. (6.) | Dynamo Minsk (BLR) | 6,304 |
| 9. (13.) | Lausanne HC (SUI) | 6,052 |
| 10. (16.) | Farjestad Karlstad (SWE) | 6,020 |
| 11. (58.) | HC Ambri-Piotta (SUI) | 6,017 |
| 12. (31.) | Malmo Redhawks (SWE) | 5,608 |
| 13. (46.) | Ilves Tampere (FIN) | 5,433 |
| 14. (5.) | Adler Mannheim (GER) | 5,387 |
| 15. (4.) | Eisbaren Berlin (GER) | 5,290 |
| 16. (39.) | Leksands IF (SWE) | 5,270 |
| 17. (41.) | EHC Biel (SUI) | 5,263 |
| 18. (50.) | Tappara Tampere (FIN) | 5,185 |
| 19. (29.) | HV71 Jonkoping (SWE-2) | 5,101 |
| 20. (34.) | Linkopings HC (SWE) | 4,987 |
| 21. (11.) | Jokerit Helsinki (FIN) | 4,984 |
| 22. (42.) | HC Lugano (SUI) | 4,960 |
| 23. (20.) | Djurgarden Stockholm (SWE) | 4,914 |
| 24. (18.) | HIFK Helsinki (FIN) | 4,883 |
| 25. (38.) | Geneve-Servette (SUI) | 4,833 |
| 26. (45.) | SCL Tigers Langnau (SUI) | 4,742 |
| 27. (49.) | Nottingham Panthers (GBR) | 4,740 |
| 28. (48.) | Lulea HF (SWE) | 4,684 |
| 29. (15.) | Dynamo Pardubice (CZE) | 4,604 |
| 30. (37.) | Brynas Gavle (SWE) | 4,457 |
| 31. (8.) | Sparta Prague (CZE) | 4,395 |
| 32. (53.) | Orebro HK (SWE) | 4,377 |
| 33. (12.) | Dusseldorfer EG (GER) | 4,338 |
| 34. (64.) | Rogle Angelholm (SWE) | 4,290 |
| 35. (2.) | SKA St. Petersburg (RUS) | 4,211 |
| 36. (67.) | EHC Kloten (SUI-2) | 4,170 |
| 37. (80.) | Belfast Giants (GBR) | 4,155 |
| 38. (44.) | HC Ceske Budejovice (CZE) | 4,007 |
| 39. (74.) | HC Davos (SUI) | 3,988 |
| 40. (84.) | SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (SUI) | 3,927 |
| 41. (70.) | Bjorkloven Umea (SWE-2) | 3,855 |
| 42. (24.) | Barys Nur-Sultan (KAZ) | 3,821 |
| 43. (17.) | Kometa Brno (CZE) | 3,726 |
| 44. (71.) | Skelleftea AIK (SWE) | 3,709 |
| 45. (65.) | Vaxjo Lakers (SWE) | 3,691 |
| 46. (179.) | HC Ajoie (SUI) | 3,626 |
| 47. (108.) | Grenoble Bruleurs de Loups (FRA) | 3,542 |
| 48. (113.) | Timra IK (SWE) | 3,519 |
| 49. (19.) | Ak Bars Kazan (RUS) | 3,403 |
| 50. (98.) | MODO Ornskoldsvik (SWE-2) | 3,271 |
| 51. (59.) | Karpat Oulu (FIN) | 3,234 |
| 52. (26.) | Sibir Novosibirsk (RUS) | 3,231 |
| 53. (107.) | Angers Ducs (FRA) | 3,229 |
| 54. (47.) | Augsburger Panther (GER) | 3,048 |
| 55. (122.) | Cardiff Devils (GBR) | 3,041 |
| 56. (79.) | TPS Turku (FIN) | 3,018 |
| 57. (27.) | Salavat Yulayev Ufa (RUS) | 2,996 |
| 58. (82.) | HC Olomouc (CZE) | 2,951 |
| 59. (22.) | Bili Tygri Liberec (CZE) | 2,938 |
| 60. (87.) | Iserlohn Roosters (GER) | 2,896 |
| 61. (124.) | AIK Stockholm (SWE-2) | 2,842 |
| 62. (125.) | Glasgow Clan (GBR) | 2,772 |
| 63. (144.) | Rouen Dragons (FRA) | 2,571 |
| 64. (115.) | Aalborg Pirates (DEN) | 2,548 |
| 65. (69.) | Straubing Tigers (GER) | 2,542 |
| 66. (101.) | Lukko Rauma (FIN) | 2,527 |
| 67. (55.) | Vitkovice Ostrava (CZE) | 2,519 |
| 68. (93.) | Stavanger Oilers (NOR) | 2,515 |
| 69. (73.) | Krefeld Pinguine (GER) | 2,501 |
| 70. (121.) | EHC Olten (SUI-2) | 2,491 |
| 71. (131.) | Sodertalje SK (SWE-2) | 2,475 |
| 72. (68.) | Mountfield Hradec Kralove (CZE) | 2,439 |
| 73. (133.) | EHC Visp (SUI-2) | 2,435 |
| 74. (116.) | VIK Vasteras (SWE-2) | 2,419 |
| 75. (36.) | Skoda Plzen (CZE) | 2,405 |
| 76. (92.) | HPK Hameenlinna (FIN) | 2,391 |
| 77. (14.) | CSKA Moscow (RUS) | 2,378 |
| 78. (109.) | KalPa Kuopio (FIN) | 2,332 |
| 79. (30.) | Traktor Chelyabinsk (RUS) | 2,327 |
| 80. (99.) | JYP Jyvaskyla (FIN) | 2,285 |
| 81. (118.) | IK Oskarshamn (SWE) | 2,278 |
| 82. (63.) | HC Zlin (CZE) | 2,270 |
| 83. (86.) | Severstal Cherepovets (RUS) | 2,241 |
| 84. (72.) | Ocelari Trinec (CZE) | 2,222 |
| 85. (91.) | KooKoo Kouvola (FIN) | 2,201 |
| 86. (242.) | Valerenga Oslo (NOR) | 2,194 |
| 87. (103.) | Pelicans Lahti (FIN) | 2,182 |
| 88. (60.) | Nuremberg Ice Tigers (GER) | 2,179 |
| 89. (32.) | Dynamo Moscow (RUS) | 2,160 |
| 90. (66.) | Lowen Frankfurt (GER-2) | 2,133 |
| 91. (112.) | Storhamar Hockey (NOR) | 2,127 |
| 92. (95.) | Schwenninger Wild Wings (GER) | 2,111 |
| 93. (89.) | ERC Ingolstadt (GER) | 2,110 |
| 94. (143.) | Amiens Gothiques (FRA) | 2,098 |
| 95. (104.) | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (RUS) | 2,082 |
| 96. (23.) | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (RUS) | 2,080 |
| 97. (126.) | Mora IK (SWE-2) | 2,059 |
| 98. (157.) | Bordeaux Boxers (FRA) | 2,040 |
| 99. (78.) | Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven (GER) | 2,036 |
| 100. (142.) | Vaasan Sport (FIN) | 2,023 |
| Regular-Season average league attendance Europe | ||
| 1 | Switzerland - National League | 6,139 |
| 2 | Sweden - Swedish Hockey League | 4,738 |
| 3 | Germany - Deutsche Eishockey Liga | 3,059 |
| 4 | Great Britain - Elite Ice Hockey League | 2,885 |
| 5 | Finland - Liiga | 2,870 |
| 6 | Czechia - Extraliga | 2,803 |
| 7 | Russia - Kontinental Hockey League | 2,382 |
| 8 | France - Ligue Magnus | 1,706 |
| 9 | Norway - Fjordkraft-ligaen | 1,362 |
| 10 | Austria - ICEHL | 1,333 |
| 2nd-tier leagues of European top countries | ||
| 1 | Sweden - HockeyAllsvenskan | 2,225 |
| 2 | Switzerland - Swiss League | 1,484 |
| 3 | Germany - DEL2 | 1,083 |
| 4 | Czech Republic - Chance Liga | 734 |
| 5 | Russia - VHL | 504 |
| 6 | Finland - Mestis | 453 |
| Regular-Season average attendance North America | ||
| 1 | National Hockey League | 15,841 |
| 2 | American Hockey League | 4,652 |
| 3 | ECHL | 3,941 |
| 4 | Western Hockey League | 3,209 |
| 5 | Ontario Hockey League | 2,943 |
| 6 | Quebec Major Junior Hockey League | 2,872 |
| 7 | NCAA Men's Division I | 2,824 |
| 8 | Southern Professional Hockey League | 2,529 |