A list of the top 30 most attended IIHF World Championships (out of 89 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 30 in 1973 to 64 in 2012 and beyond, therefore "attendance per game" is an equally important statistic to measure the success of a given tournament. Fourteen tournaments have had averages over 9,000 spectators per game (including 1972 edition which is not the top 30 most attended tournaments by total attendance), and eight 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.
Czech Republic hosted six of the top 30 most attended tournaments (including three tournaments held in Czechoslovakia) as well as three of the top 5 attended tournaments. Finland also hosted six of the top 30 most attended tournaments. There are two countries with five of the top 30 most attended tournaments: Russia (including three tournaments held in the Soviet Union) and Sweden. Germany hosted three of the top 30 most attended tournaments; Denmark, Slovakia and Switzerland – two each. There are 4 other countries who have hosted the championships at least once, and are represented on the top 30.
The lowest attendance was at the 2021 edition in Latvia, where fans were banned due to the COVID-19 pandemic except for one game attended by 934 people. Not counting this, the lowest recorded attendance was at the 1953 edition in Switzerland, with 53,000 total spectators. Some tournaments before 1950 do not have attendance figures available.
List of the top 30 most attended tournaments YearHost countryTotal attendanceNumber of gamesAttendance per game Ref 2024 †797,7276412,464 2015741,6906411,589 2017 & 686,3916410,725 2014640,0446410,001 2004552,097569,859 2010548,768569,799 1997526,1725210,119 2018520,481648,133 2025 & 489,450647,648 2008477,040548,834 2019470,853647,357 2026466,314647,286 2012 & 451,054647,048 2003449,193568,021 2023 & 441,184646,904 2013 † & 427,818646,685 2016417,414646,522 1985 †411,6594010,291 2001407,542567,278 2011406,804567,264 1959406,601488,471 1989388,563409,714 2009379,044566,768 1986 †375,820409,396 1978362,642409,066 2022 †356,955645,577 1979 †354,5003211,078 1973 †331,5003011,050 2007330,708565,905 1995326,571408,164 † = team won the championship as host
See also List of IIHF World Championship medalists Ice Hockey World Championships
References