COLOGNE/MANNHEIM – The Organizing Committee of the 2010 IIHF World Championship announced that the mark of 400,000 spectators, which was set as the goal for the tournament, was surpassed this afternoon during the Relegation Round games.

Later in the afternoon, with the Slovakia-Germany game in Cologne and Canada-Czech Republic in Mannheim, the 2010 edition also surpassed the total of 407,542 spectators that saw the last World Championship held in Germany in 2001 (Hanover, Cologne, and Nuremberg).

The Germans are chasing down some other attendance marks. The current record-holder is the Czech Republic with 552,097 fans who saw 56 games in Prague and Ostrava, followed by Finland 1997 (526,000), Canada 2008 (477,040) and Finland 2003 (454,693).

Totally 444,073 fans watched the games in Cologne, Mannheim and Gelsenkirchen prior to the quarterfinals.

The fan highlights so far this year include several sold-out games in Cologne with more than 18,500 fans, including the Germany games and Slovakia-Russia. There have also been sold-out games in Mannheim (12,500). Most notably, the opening USA-Germany game attracted 77,803 fans to Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, the home of legendary football club Schalke 04.

The Qualification Round ends tonight with the showdowns for first place in each group: Russia-Finland in Cologne and Switzerland-Sweden in Mannheim.

Tickets for the quarterfinals in Cologne and Mannheim, as well as tickets for the semi-finals, bronze medal game and gold medal game (all in Cologne), are available online, by phone or at the ticket offices of the Lanxess Arena in Cologne and the SAP Arena in Mannheim.

More information:

Tickets: English / Deutsch
Hospitality packages: English / Deutsch
Schedule / Spielplan