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List of IIHF World Championships by attendance

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A list of the top 30 most attended IIHF World Championships (out of 87 total). The 2024 tournament, in Prague and Ostrava (Czech Republic), holds the record for overall attendance and the record for average spectators per game. Not included are the Olympic tournaments, which though they are run as an IIHF tournament, have been separate from the World Championships since 1972.

Despite reluctance in some circles to have such a tournament in Olympic years, three of the six most attended World Championships overall have taken place on years that coincided with the holding of a best-on-best tournament, either the Olympics (2010 and 2014) or the World Cup of Hockey (2004).

It should be considered that because of a changing pool-size of teams through the years, the number of games contested at the IIHF World Championships can range from 32 in 1979 to 64 in 2012 and beyond, therefore "attendance per game" is an equally important statistic to measure the success of a given tournament. Eleven tournaments have had averages over 9,000 spectators per game, and seven have topped the 10,000 mark.

In an effort to broaden the sport's appeal, the number of top division teams was increased from a mere 8 (as late as 1991) to 16 (starting in 1998), leading to an influx of lesser teams that could negatively impact average attendance. To combat this, some organizers have aggressively pushed the sale of day passes that bundle popular games with less sought-after ones.

The Czech Republic hosted three of the top five most attended tournaments. Finland hosted seven of the top 30 most attended tournaments. There are two countries with five of the top 30 most attended tournaments: Russia (including two tournaments held in the Soviet Union) and Sweden. Germany hosted three of the top 30 most attended tournaments, Latvia and Slovakia – two each. There are 6 other countries who have hosted the championships at least once, and are represented on the top 30.

List of the top 30 most attended tournaments

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Year Host country Total attendance Number of games Attendance per game Ref
2024  Czech Republic † 797,727 64 12,464 [1]
2015  Czech Republic 741,690 64 11,589
2017  Germany &  France 686,391 64 10,725
2014  Belarus 640,044 64 10,001 [2]
2004  Czech Republic 552,097 56 9,859 [3]
2010  Germany 548,768 56 9,799 [4]
1997  Finland 526,172 52 10,119 [3]
2018  Denmark 520,481 64 8,133
2008  Canada 477,040 54 8,834
2019  Slovakia 470,853 64 7,357 [5]
2012  Finland &  Sweden 451,054 64 7,048 [6]
2003  Finland 449,193 56 8,021 [7]
2023  Finland &  Latvia 442,160 64 6,909
2013  Sweden † &  Finland 427,818 64 6,685
2016  Russia 417,414 64 6,522
1985  Czechoslovakia † 411,659 40 10,291 [8]
2001  Germany 407,547 56 7,277
2011  Slovakia 406,804 56 7,264
1989  Sweden 388,190 40 9,704
2009   Switzerland 379,044 56 6,768
1986  Soviet Union † 362,710 40 9,067
2022  Finland † 356,955 64 5,577
1979  Soviet Union † 354,500 32 11,078
2007  Russia 330,708 56 5,905
1995  Sweden 325,571 40 8,139
2006  Latvia 324,794 56 5,799
2005  Austria 323,974 56 5,785
2000  Russia 318,449 56 5,686
1991  Finland 310,627 40 7,765
2002  Sweden 305,541 56 5,456
† = team won the championship as host

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Czechs strike gold on home ice".
  2. ^ "Record profit for World Championship in Belarus - Eurohockey.com". www.eurohockey.com.
  3. ^ a b "2004 IIHF WCH". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  4. ^ "IIHF - News". IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation.
  5. ^ "2019 IIHF WCH" (PDF).
  6. ^ "IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship – Team Statistics (As of Sunday, 26 May 2019)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 May 2019.
  7. ^ "2003 IIHF WCH".
  8. ^ Derrick (2010-08-16). "50rd IIHF World Championship – Czechoslovakia". International Hockey. Archived from the original on 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
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