Swiss lead again
Swiss giant SC Bern leads the European attendance study for the 17th consecutive year with an average of 16,371 fans 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 by 28 spectators this year.
Switzerland also leads the European national leagues in league attendance with an average of 6,833 spectators.
Second comes the KHL that claims second and third spot in the club rankings but this year with SKA St. Petersburg moving from fifth to second place. Arguably the strongest team in Europe with many Russian home comers from the NHL and the highest budget, the club averaged 11,847 fans and is followed by another KHL team, Dynamo Minsk from Belarus with 11,738 fans.
The two KHL teams are followed by two German clubs. Eisbaren Berlin stays in fourth place with 11,384 fans while Kolner Haie dropped to fifth with 11,222 spectators in average. Finnish KHL team Jokerit Helsinki and Adler Mannheim from Germany are the other clubs over the 10,000 mark. Frolunda Gothenburg (Sweden), the ZSC Lions Zurich (Switzerland) and Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) complete the top-10 in Europe.
The top-100 club teams come from 14 different countries across the continent from Great Britain in the west to Kazakhstan in the east. Some of them perform in a second-tier league led by Czech club HC Ceske Budejovice with 5,869 fans.
In the league ranking the Russian-based cross-border league KHL moved to second place with 6,234 fans. The strategy to decrease the number of the teams paid off. While the current 27 teams had less spectators in average, the league average increased by losing Metallurg Novokuznetsk (relegated) and Medvescak Zagreb (tops the Austrian-based cross-border league EBEL in attendance).
The German DEL had a decrease in attendance of over 3 per cent and dropped to third place with an average of 5,996 fans followed by the Swedish Hockey League (5,669), the Czech Extraliga (5,455) and the Finnish Liiga (4,254).
With Medvescak Zagreb replacing Olimpija Ljubljana in the EBEL, the Austrian-based league increased its attendance to 3,216 fans and moved to seventh place ahead of the leagues from Great Britain, Slovakia and Norway.
The NHL with 17,414 is by far the most attended league world wide and is followed by Switzerland, Russia and Germany in terms of attendance before the second-most visited league in North America, the AHL with 5,817 fans. The Chicago Blackhawks (21,635) and the Montreal Canadiens (21,299) are the clubs with the highest attendance and the only hockey teams that average more than 20,000 fans.
MARTIN MERK
Attendance figures in European hockey leagues 2017/2018 | | Club | Country | Average | Cap. % | 1. | (1.) | SC Bern | SUI | 16,371 | 95.56% | 2. | (5.) | SKA St. Petersburg | RUS | 11,847 | 94.78% | 3. | (2.) | Dynamo Minsk | BLR | 11,738 | 77.81% | 4. | (4.) | Eisbaren Berlin | GER | 11,384 | 80.17% | 5. | (3.) | Kolner Haie | GER | 11,222 | 60.66% | 6. | (7.) | Jokerit Helsinki | FIN | 10,415 | 76.22% | 7. | (6.) | Adler Mannheim | GER | 10,191 | 74.93% | 8. | (10.) | Frolunda Gothenburg | SWE | 9,667 | 80.26% | 9. | (8.) | ZSC Lions Zurich | SUI | 8,863 | 79.13% | 10. | (13.) | Sparta Prague | CZE | 8,708 | 50.16% | 11. | (12.) | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | RUS | 8,139 | 89.97% | 12. | (11.) | Avangard Omsk | RUS | 7,741 | 75.02% | 13. | (17.) | Dynamo Pardubice | CZE | 7,720 | 75.73% | 14. | (14.) | Dusseldorfer EG | GER | 7,656 | 57.72% | 15. | (9.) | Slovan Bratislava | SVK | 7,608 | 75.66% | 16. | (16.) | Spartak Moscow | RUS | 7,493 | | 17. | (15.) | Kometa Brno | CZE | 7,444 | | 18. | (30.) | Farjestad Karlstad | SWE | 7,233 | | 19. | (23.) | Djurgarden Stockholm | SWE | 7,169 | | 20. | (20.) | HIFK Helsinki | FIN | 7,165 | | 21. | (21.) | Traktor Chelyabinsk | RUS | 7,069 | | 22. | (50.) | Vitkovice Ostrava | CZE | 6,986 | | 23. | (29.) | EV Zug | SUI | 6,983 | | 24. | (19.) | Sibir Novosibirsk | RUS | 6,931 | | 25. | (22.) | Met. Magnitogorsk | RUS | 6,850 | | 26. | (27.) | HV71 Jonkoping | SWE | 6,621 | | 27. | (25.) | Amur Khabarovsk | RUS | 6,571 | | 28. | (81.) | Skoda Plzen | CZE | 6,550 | | 29. | (28.) | Ak Bars Kazan | RUS | 6,548 | | 30. | (18.) | Salavat Yulayev Ufa | RUS | 6,492 | | 31. | (24.) | Malmo Redhawks | SWE | 6,474 | | 32. | (26.) | Lausanne HC | SUI | 6,282 | | 33. | (45.) | Barys Astana | KAZ | 6,265 | | 34. | (31.) | Geneve-Servette | SUI | 5,928 | | 35. | (36.) | Fribourg-Gotteron | SUI | 5,889 | | 36. | (42.) | Ceske Budejovice | CZE-2 | 5,869 | | 37. | (35.) | SCL Tigers | SUI | 5,777 | | 38. | (34.) | HC Lugano | SUI | 5,762 | | 39. | (54.) | Nuremberg Ice Tigers | GER | 5,717 | | 40. | (38.) | Nottingham Panthers | GBR | 5,692 | | 41. | (39.) | Linkopings HC | SWE | 5,688 | | 42. | (75.) | Dinamo Riga | LAT | 5,548 | | 43. | (41.) | Tappara Tampere | FIN | 5,544 | | 44. | (32.) | Dynamo Moscow | RUS | 5,531 | | 45. | (40.) | TPS Turku | FIN | 5,492 | | 46. | (33.) | Bili Tygri Liberec | CZE | 5,457 | | 47. | (93.) | Lada Togliatti | RUS | 5,455 | | 48. | (49.) | HK Sochi | RUS | 5,453 | | 49. | (55.) | Karpat Oulu | FIN | 5,394 | | 50. | (43.) | Brynas Gavle | SWE | 5,380 | | 51. | (44.) | EHC Biel | SUI | 5,369 | | 52. | (53.) | EHC Kloten | SUI | 5,356 | | 53. | (64.) | Sheffield Steelers | GBR | 5,297 | | 54. | (46.) | Torpedo N. Novgorod | RUS | 5,179 | | 55. | (47.) | Orebro HK | SWE | 5,143 | | 56. | (37.) | Leksands IF | SWE-2 | 5,140 | | 57. | (62.) | EHC Red Bull Munich | GER | 5,035 | | 58. | (59.) | Augsburger Panther | GER | 5,025 | | 59. | (63.) | Assat Pori | FIN | 4,954 | | 60. | (72.) | Medvescak Zagreb | CRO | 4,948 | | 61. | (60.) | Lulea HF | SWE | 4,946 | | 62. | (56.) | HK Hradec Kralove | CZE | 4,922 | | 63. | (52.) | Lowen Frankfurt | GER-2 | 4,773 | | 64. | (83.) | Avt. Yekaterinburg | RUS | 4,763 | | 65. | (58.) | HC Ambri-Piotta | SUI | 4,730 | | 66. | (69.) | Black Wings Linz | AUT | 4,709 | | 67. | (65.) | HC Davos | SUI | 4,681 | | 68. | (57.) | Ilves Tampere | FIN | 4,679 | | 69. | (194.) | Dukla Jihlava | CZE | 4,660 | | 70. | (66.) | Vaxjo Lakers | SWE | 4,658 | | 71. | (85.) | Vienna Capitals | AUT | 4,643 | | 72. | (68.) | Skelleftea AIK | SWE | 4,642 | | 73. | (87.) | Sary-Arka Karaganda | KAZ | 4,578 | | 74. | (70.) | Belfast Giants | GBR | 4,561 | | 75. | (71.) | Schwenningen | GER | 4,419 | | 76. | (77.) | Iserlohn Roosters | GER | 4,403 | | 77. | (67.) | Ocelari Trinec | CZE | 4,372 | | 78. | (78.) | HC Olomouc | CZE | 4,370 | | 79. | (61.) | HC Litvinov | CZE | 4,314 | | 80. | (74.) | Bremerhaven | GER | 4,310 | | 81. | (91.) | AIK Stockholm | SWE-2 | 4,304 | | 82. | (73.) | Storhamar Hockey | NOR | 4,300 | | 83. | (48.) | Admiral Vladivostok | RUS | 4,264 | | 84. | (80.) | Krefeld Pinguine | GER | 4,186 | | 85. | (116.) | Mora IK | SWE | 4,118 | | 86. | (76.) | Pirati Chomutov | CZE | 4,093 | | 87. | (96.) | Rogle Angelholm | SWE | 4,069 | | 88. | (101.) | HC Kosice | SVK | 4,032 | | 89. | (102.) | Molot-Prikamie Perm | RUS-2 | 4,031 | | 90. | (92.) | Pelicans Lahti | FIN | 3,976 | | 91. | (82.) | Straubing Tigers | GER | 3,949 | | 92. | (111.) | CSKA Moscow | RUS | 3,912 | | 93. | (95.) | Bjorkloven Umea | SWE-2 | 3,902 | | 94. | (108.) | Yermak Angarsk | RUS-2 | 3,862 | | 95. | (51.) | Neft. Nizhnekamsk | RUS | 3,855 | | 96. | (124.) | Severstal Cherepovets | RUS | 3,773 | | 97. | (103.) | JYP Jyvaskyla | FIN | 3,752 | | 98. | (89.) | Stavanger Oilers | NOR | 3,706 | | 99. | (99.) | ERC Ingolstadt | GER | 3,700 | | 100. | (79.) | HC Zlin | CZE | 3,616 | |
Regular-Season average league attendance Europe & Asia | | League | Attendance | 1. | Switzerland - National League | 6,833 | 2. | Russia - Kontinental Hockey League | 6,234 | 3. | Germany - Deutsche Eishockey Liga | 5,996 | 4. | Sweden - Swedish Hockey League | 5,669 | 5. | Czech Republic - Extraliga | 5,455 | 6. | Finland - Liiga | 4,254 | 7. | Austria - EBEL | 3,216 | 8. | Great Britain - Elite Ice Hockey League | 2,678 | 9. | Slovakia - Extraliga | 1,837 | 10. | Norway - Get-ligaen | 1,822 | 11. | France - Ligue Magnus | 1,781 | 12. | Denmark - Metal Ligaen | 1,213 | 13. | Asia League (JPN/KOR/RUS) | 969 | 14. | Poland - Polska Hokej Liga | 838 | 15. | Belarus - Extraliga | 750 | 16. | MOL Liga (HUN/ROU) | 698 | 17. | Kazakhstan | 561 | 18. | BeNe League (NED/BEL) | 551 | 19. | Ukraine | 388 | 20. | Spain - LNHH | 385 |
Regular-Season average attendance in European 2nd-tier leagues | | League | Attendance | 1. | Sweden - HockeyAllsvenskan | 2,705 | 2. | Germany - DEL2 | 2,490 | 3. | Russia - VHL | 1,816 | 4. | Switzerland - Swiss League | 1,630 | 5. | Czech Republic - WSM Liga | 1,892 | 6. | Finland - Mestis | 762 |
Regular-Season average attendance North America | | League | Attendance | 1. | National Hockey League | 17,414 | 2. | American Hockey League | 5,817 | 3. | Western Hockey League | 4,431 | 4. | ECHL | 4,323 | 5. | Ontario Hockey League | 4,109 | 6. | NCAA Men's Division I | 3,243 | 7. | Quebec Major Junior Hockey League | 3,196 | 8. | Southern Professional Hockey League | 3,205 | 9. | United States Hockey League | 2,294 |
Notes: The regular season is still being played in North America and in Great Britain, numbers as of 20 March 2018.
PICTURE: Swiss fans cheer on their team during the 2009 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship on home ice in Berne. Photo: Matthew Manor / HHOF-IIHF Images
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