European attendance ranking
by Martin Merk|15 MAR 2019
Swiss fans cheer on their team during the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images
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The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has published the annual European attendance ranking with the regular season being concluded in most countries of the continent. For the 18th consecutive year SC Bern leads all European clubs with an average attendance of 16,290 in the regular season.

Scroll down for the club and league rankings.

The club from the Swiss capital has led the European ranking since overtaking Kolner Haie from the German city of Cologne in 2001/2002 despite a marginal drop of 91 spectators.

Like last year SC Bern is followed by the best attended Russian team, SKA St. Petersburg, which increased its attendance to 13,016 fans thanks to an outdoor game.

Next comes a trio of German clubs: Eisbaren Berlin (12,026), Kolner Haie (11,573) and Adler Mannheim (11,422) all moved up compared to last year. Frolunda Gothenburg from Sweden, ranked sixth with 10,071, and the ZSC Lions Zurich from Switzerland with 9,693 spectators improved as well while the second and third most visited KHL teams dropped down, Dynamo Minsk from Belarus with 9,495 fans from third to eighth place and Jokerit Helsinki from Finland with 8,768 fans from sixth to tenth place. The top-10 are completed by the most popular Czech club, Sparta Prague, which improved to ninth place with 9,042 spectators.

With Dusseldorfer EG another German team follows in 11th place while famous Russian club CSKA Moscow moved up from 92nd to 12th place with 8,501 fans in its new arena that it shared with Spartak Moscow, which was just one place behind.

The top-100 list below includes clubs from 13 different countries including Austria, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland.

The top-100 ranking also includes several clubs competing in second-tier leagues in their countries led by HC Ceske Budejovice from the Czech Republic ranked 44th with 5,736 fans.

The clubs with the currently highest attendances worldwide are again the Chicago Blackhawks (22,951) and the Montreal Canadiens (21,010) of the National Hockey League.

In the Far East countries Chinese KHL team Kunlun Red Star, which plays most of its games in Shanghai, averaged 2,569 fans followed by Qien Tou Jilin (1,400), a Chinese team in the second-tier Russian league VHL, and the Japanese clubs Nikko Ice Bucks (1,344) and Nippon Paper Cranes (1,204) from the Asia League.

Switzerland does not only have the best attended club in Europe but its National League also had the highest average attendance in the regular season, which increased by 1.7 per cent to 6,949 fans with the ZSC Lions Zurich, HC Ambri-Piotta, EHC Biel and HC Lugano having the biggest growth. The increase comes in the season after Switzerland won silver at the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship by narrowly missing gold in a shootout against Sweden.

That makes it the best attended league in the world, by the average number, behind the National Hockey League with currently 17,406 fans. Four European leagues have an average attendance that’s behind the NHL but before the American Hockey League, which ranks second in North America with 5,672 fans.

The top-8 attended European leagues remained in the same order. The Russian-dominated Kontinental Hockey League is second in Europe with an average of 6,397 fans (+2.6%). The German DEL (6,215, +3.7%) and the Swedish Hockey League (5,828, +2.8%) also saw their numbers go up. In Germany 10 out of 14 clubs had higher numbers than last year in the season after the German silver fairy tale at the Olympics. In Russia CSKA Moscow was the biggest difference maker with its new arena but also SKA St. Petersburg and Dinamo Riga had a four-digit growth. In Sweden there was a broad number of clubs increasing the average in the country after back-to-back World Championship titles for Sweden.

These leagues are followed in Europe by the Czech Extraliga, Finland’s Liiga, the Austrian-based cross-border league EBEL and the leagues from Great Britain, Norway, France and Slovakia. Ranked 12th, the Danish Metal Ligaen improved its attendance by a whopping 26 per cent in its season after successfully hosting the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship for the first time. Seven teams in the nine-team league had higher numbers than the season before.

Attendance Rankings

Attendance figures in European hockey leagues 2018/2019
Rank Club Attendance
1. (1.) SC Bern (SUI) 16,290
2. (2.) SKA St. Petersburg (RUS) 13,016
3. (4.) Eisbaren Berlin (GER) 12,026
4. (5.) Kolner Haie (GER) 11,573
5. (7.) Adler Mannheim (GER) 11,422
6. (8.) Frolunda Gothenburg (SWE) 10,071
7. (9.) ZSC Lions Zurich (SUI) 9,694
8. (3.) Dynamo Minsk (BLR) 9,495
9. (10.) Sparta Prague (CZE) 9,042
10. (6.) Jokerit Helsinki (FIN) 8,768
11. (14.) Dusseldorfer EG (GER) 8,531
12. (92.) CSKA Moscow (RUS) 8,501
13. (16.) Spartak Moscow (RUS) 8,341
14. (11.) Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (RUS) 7,876
15. (17.) Kometa Brno (CZE) 7,491
16. (19.) Djurgarden Stockholm (SWE) 7,355
17. (13.) Dynamo Pardubice (CZE) 7,328
18. (18.) Farjestad Karlstad (SWE) 7,231
19. (29.) Ak Bars Kazan (RUS) 7,119
20. (20.) HIFK Helsinki (FIN) 7,100
21. (21.) Traktor Chelyabinsk (RUS) 7,026
22. (25.) Metallurg Magnitogorsk (RUS) 6,964
23. (23.) EV Zug (SUI) 6,952
24. (31.) Malmo Redhawks (SWE) 6,888
25. (42.) Dinamo Riga (LAT) 6,669
26. (26.) HV71 Jonkoping (SWE) 6,550
27. (32.) Lausanne HC (SUI) 6,498
28. (15.) Slovan Bratislava (SVK) 6,450
29. (33.) Barys Astana (KAZ) 6,448
30. (38.) HC Lugano (SUI) 6,301
31. (46.) Bili Tygri Liberec (CZE) 6,264
32. (30.) Salavat Yulayev Ufa (RUS) 6,176
33. (41.) Linkopings HC (SWE) 6,079
34. (35.) Fribourg-Gotteron (SUI) 6,077
35. (53.) Sheffield Steelers (GBR) 6,045
36. (27.) Amur Khabarovsk (RUS) 6,031
37. (51.) EHC Biel (SUI) 6,028
38. (34.) Geneve-Servette (SUI) 6,019
39. (24.) Sibir Novosibirsk (RUS) 5,985
40. (44.) Dynamo Moscow (RUS) 5,869
41. (22.) Vitkovice Ostrava (CZE) 5,850
42. (40.) Nottingham Panthers (GBR) 5,799
43. (37.) SCL Tigers Langnau (SUI) 5,747
44. (36.) HC Ceske Budejovice (CZE-2) 5,736
45. (48.) HK Sochi (RUS) 5,711
46. (28.) Skoda Plzen (CZE) 5,640
47. (65.) HC Ambri-Piotta (SUI) 5,489
48. (58.) Augsburger Panther (GER) 5,481
49. (45.) TPS Turku (FIN) 5,462
50. (64.) Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (RUS) 5,427
51. (61.) Lulea HF (SWE) 5,363
52. (54.) Torpedo Nizhni Novgorod (RUS) 5,292
53. (49.) Karpat Oulu (FIN) 5,260
54. (50.) Brynas Gavle (SWE) 5,231
55. (43.) Tappara Tampere (FIN) 5,227
56. (55.) Orebro HK (SWE) 5,178
57. (39.) Nuremberg Ice Tigers (GER) 5,163
58. (62.) HK Hradec Kralove (CZE) 5,076
59. (68.) Ilves Tampere (FIN) 5,042
60. (79.) HC Litvinov (CZE) 4,909
61. (63.) Lowen Frankfurt (GER-2) 4,856
62. (57.) EHC Red Bull Munich (GER) 4,819
63. (84.) Krefeld Pinguine (GER) 4,814
64. (12.) Avangard Omsk (RUS) 4,745
65. (81.) AIK Stockholm (SWE-2) 4,698
66. (70.) Vaxjo Lakers (SWE) 4,691
67. (56.) Leksands IF (SWE-2) 4,666
68. (66.) Black Wings Linz (AUT) 4,636
69. (77.) Ocelari Trinec (CZE) 4,553
70. (72.) Skelleftea AIK (SWE) 4,523
71. (71.) Vienna Capitals (AUT) 4,481
72. (80.) Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven (GER) 4,438
73. (52.) EHC Kloten (SUI-2) 4,432
74. (87.) Rogle Angelholm (SWE) 4,424
75. (100.) HC Zlin (CZE) 4,364
76. (76.) Iserlohn Roosters (GER) 4,344
77. (67.) HC Davos (SUI) 4,307
78. (78.) HC Olomouc (CZE) 4,297
79. (74.) Belfast Giants (GBR) 4,267
80. (59.) Assat Pori (FIN) 4,225
81. (47.) Lada Togliatti (RUS-2) 4,215
82. (83.) Admiral Vladivostok (RUS) 4,211
83. (91.) Straubing Tigers (GER) 4,129
84. (85.) Mora IK (SWE) 4,070
85. (90.) Pelicans Lahti (FIN) 4,018
86. (136.) SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (SUI) 3,985
87. (128.) Yuzhny Ural Orsk (RUS-2) 3,952
88. (116.) Timra IK (SWE) 3,932
89. (82.) Storhamar Hockey (NOR) 3,910
90. (105.) Vityaz Podolsk (RUS) 3,891
91. (99.) ERC Ingolstadt (GER) 3,883
92. (93.) Bjorkloven Umea (SWE-2) 3,879
93. (88.) HC Kosice (SVK) 3,871
94. (125.) Dynamo St. Petersburg (RUS-2) 3,864
95. (143.) Energie Karlovy Vary (CZE) 3,857
96. (102.) HPK Hameenlinna (FIN) 3,845
97. (89.) Molot-Prikamie Perm (RUS-2) 3,839
98. (86.) Pirati Chomutov (CZE) 3,837
99. (97.) JYP Jyvaskyla (FIN) 3,748
100. (98.) Stavanger Oilers (NOR) 3,731
     
Regular-Season average league attendance Europe & Asia
1 Switzerland - National League 6,949
2 Russia - Kontinental Hockey League 6,397
3 Germany - Deutsche Eishockey Liga 6,215
4 Sweden - Swedish Hockey League 5,828
5 Czech Republic - Extraliga 5,401
6 Finland - Liiga 4,232
7 Austria - EBEL 2,970
8 Great Britain - Elite Ice Hockey League 2,850
9 Norway - Get-ligaen 1,827
10 France - Ligue Magnus 1,716
11 Slovakia - Extraliga 1,663
12 Denmark - Metal Ligaen 1,525
13 Asia League (JPN/KOR/RUS) 976
14 Poland - Polska Hokej Liga 751
15 Alps Hockey League (AUT/ITA/SLO) 734
16 Belarus - Extraliga 717
17 Championship of Kazakhstan 604
18 Erste Liga (HUN/ROU) 601
19 BeNe League (NED/BEL) 585
     
2nd-tier leagues of European top countries
1 Sweden - HockeyAllsvenskan 2,713
2 Germany - DEL2 2,511
3 Switzerland - Swiss League 1,845
4 Russia - VHL 1,766
5 Czech Republic - Chance Liga 1,674
6 Finland - Mestis 762
     
Regular-Season average attendance North America
1 National Hockey League 17,406
2 American Hockey League 5,672
3 Western Hockey League 4,295
4 ECHL 4,365
5 Ontario Hockey League 3,853
6 NCAA Men's Division I 3,281
7 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League 3,271
8 Southern Professional Hockey League 3,116
9 United States Hockey League 2,367

Note: The numbers are regular-season average attendances of home games. The regular season has not concluded yet in North America, Belarus and Great Britain. Numbers as of 14 March 2019.