We’re a quarter of the way into the NHL season, which makes this a perfect moment to check in on attendance trends around the league. Some teams are up, some are down, and some are just… being themselves. Let’s take a look.
As always, a couple of quick disclaimers. Just because the NHL has crossed the quarter mark doesn’t mean every team has played a quarter of its home schedule. For example, the Toronto Maple Leafs have already played 15 home games compared to just six on the road. When comparing attendance year over year, I always use the same number of games for each team. So in Toronto’s case, I’m looking at their first 15 home games this season versus their first 15 from last season, regardless of when those games fell on the calendar.
Attendance numbers are team-reported and represent tickets distributed, not necessarily the number of people who actually walked through the doors. And none of this is about dunking on teams or fan bases; there are a ton of factors that impact attendance, like team performance, pricing, schedule quirks, weather, and even local sports overlap.
Average NHL attendance
Leaguewide average attendance is up a modest 0.5 percent. In a league where many buildings are already at or near capacity, even small gains are a good sign. Keep in mind, the uneven number of home games played so far can nudge the leaguewide average in different directions. For example, Toronto’s 15 home dates at roughly 18,500 fans per game weigh more heavily than Utah’s eight home games at around 12,500. The effect is small, but it’s worth mentioning, especially this early in the season.
Here’s a look at team-by-team change based on the same number of games last season:
Utah’s attendance bump is tied to arena upgrades that added roughly 1,350 seats. They still play in the league’s smallest building, but there is ongoing chatter about future facilities for both the Jazz and Mammoth, suggesting this arena’s small capacity is only temporary. Meanwhile, Carolina, Montreal, and Washington are slightly down due to seat reconfigurations and building renovations.
Looking at sellouts
The NHL remains very much a “sellout league.” More than half the games end up as virtual or actual sellouts, and several teams are at full capacity pretty much every night. That’s great for business, but it also limits how much average attendance can grow. Because of that, sellouts are a helpful metric for understanding movement.
So far, the league is slightly down: 58 percent of games have been sellouts, which trails last year but lines up with the last decade of non-COVID-impacted seasons.
Here’s the team-level breakdown:
Minnesota is the most surprising storyline here. They’re typically around a 90 percent sellout rate but sit at just 15 percent so far, with eight fewer sellouts in their first 13 home games compared to last season. Toronto also stands out, but several of their early home dates went head-to-head with the Blue Jays’ postseason run.
NHL attendance by team and game
Here’s a look at how each team is trending game-to-game:
Some quick thoughts
- San Jose’s game-to-game swings are wild, but despite the volatility, they’re still better off than last season. I expect them to stabilize a bit as the year goes on.
- Chicago should also see a bump if the on-ice product continues to be as entertaining as it’s been.
- Pittsburgh has been a pleasant surprise. Despite preseason predictions that they were headed for a tank, they’ve been in the playoff mix the entire way—something that usually nudges attendance upward over time.
- Once again, NHL attendance looks pretty steady overall, with a few interesting wrinkles once you dig into the details. Performance does matter, but the effects typically lag by months—sometimes even full seasons.
Wrapping up
Big picture, attendance across the NHL looks pretty steady so far, with a handful of teams bucking expectations in both directions. As the season rolls on and schedules and performances even out, we should get an even clearer picture of how these trends shake out.
Huh. Just sitting in the stands it feels like there are more people around me than there were last season. It must just be that they are noisier now.