PROFILBARU.COM

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

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