NHL Attendance By Team By Year

NHL attendance by the year 2023 is led by Montreal Canadiens. The team plays at Centre Bell Arena with an average ticket price of $231.

Canadiens hosted over 20,000 fans annually from 1996-97 to 2019-20. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the team suffered a decline in the 2021-22 season. However, they recovered their losses in the recent year.

Despite that, the game of Canadiens is not listed as the most eyed game. According to NHL, the most-watched regular season game was between Bruins and the Penguins.

The matchup occurred during a Winter Classic of 2023. The outdoor game won by Boston was attended by 39,243 people and had an average of 1.8 million viewers on TNT.

Bruins scored twice and secured a win in the third period of the game. During the same timeframe, the TV audience on TNT peaked at an all-time high of 2.1 million.

NHL average attendance by team Tampa Bay Lightning was 19,092 in the 2021-22 season. The ticket price of their home game begins at $17.

Lightning has been consistent in the number of their attendees. They had the same figures from the 2015-16 to the 2018-19 season. The numbers dropped in the 2019-20 season.

The team is back on track, and they have the exact spectator count for the 2022-23 season. However, you will be surprised that their game was not the most-viewed one.

The Winter Classic on 1 January 2022 was the most-watched game during that season. The Wild and the Blues matchup happened at Target Field in Minneapolis.

The Blues defeated the Lightning with an overall score of 6-4. They competed in a chilling temperature of -5.7 degrees Fahrenheit, the coldest outdoor game in NHL history.

Chicago Blackhawks had the highest number of attendees during the 2019-20 season. 21,441 people went to their stadiums to watch home games.

Before that, Blackhawks recorded the maximum sellouts of 22,734 in the team's history. They have witnessed a downfall in the audience count in the past two seasons.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, none of the teams had a stadium audience in the 2020-21 season. The average ticket price to the Blackhawks game is $130.

The most-watched game in the 2019-20 season was between the Canadiens and the Penguins. NBC had an average Total Audience Delivery(TAD) of 1.572 million viewers.

The Canadiens won over the Penguins in overtime with 3-2 overall scores. The viewer count peaked at 2.057 million at the beginning of the overtime.

In the 2018-19 season, Blackhawks recorded their highest attendance in history. They hosted roughly 22,734 people at their stadium to watch their home games.

Canadiens followed them securing a second position. They had a difference of over 1,000 people since Montreal only had 21,047 live spectators.

Blackhawks had 18,490 and 17,167 stadium attendees during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons respectively. It shows that the number of fans watching their games at the stadium has decreased.

The Bruins and Blackhawks game was watched by most viewers in the 2018-19 season. The Winter Classic game took place at Nore Dame Stadium in Indiana on 1 January 2019.

The regular season game had an average TAD of 2.972 million spectators on NBC. The channel witnessed a 20% hike in the viewer count as compared to the previous season. 

NHL attendance by Team 2017-18 season topmost position is also secured by the Blackhawks. They welcomed 21,654 audiences into their arena.

It was the first playing season of the Vegas Golden Knights. Despite that, the newly-established franchise landed in the 12th position with 18,042 viewership.

Among all, the top games of the season include Vegas Vs. Lightning on 19 December, Predators Vs. Jets on 27 February, Capital Vs. Jets on 12 March, and Avalanche Vs. Blues on 7 April.

As per NBC Sports Group Press Box, the channel received an average TAD of 1.289 million viewers in the regular season. The finals of the playoff games between the Capitals and Golden Knights were fascinating for the audiences.

NBC covered game 5 between the clubs. It was viewed by 6.588 million viewers on television and received a rating of 3.9.

Ottawa Senators attendance in the 2016-17 season included 16,744 fans. They ranked in the 21st position by the number of attendees in the arena.

Sens had an inflow of the maximum number of spectators in the 2007-08 season. Their home games were attended by 19,821 fans, the highest for the team until now.

The 2021-22 season was not the best for Ottawa. Their followers declined and reached 10,145. However, in the recent season, they sold out 16,757 tickets for their games.

The top games of the 2016-17 season include Flames at Oilers on 12 October, Oilers at Jets on 23 October, Blackhawks at Blues on 2 January, and Devils at Wings on 9 April.

Game 6 of the Penguins and the Predators was watched by 6.985 million people on TV. NBC covered the game, and it was one of the most interesting games of the season.

NHL TV ratings were 3.1 during the Stanley Cup finals of the  2015-2016 Season. Penguins gained victory over the Sharks by winning 4 out of 6 games.

NBC averaged 1.545 million spectators during 11 games of the Winter Classic and Stadium Series. The regular season games averaged 503,000 viewers on NBC and NBCSN.

Chicago and Carolina received the highest and lowest audience count in that season respectively. The former franchise acquired 21,860 fans and the latter one obtained 12,204 only.

9,106 people watched the Hurricane's home games in their debut playing season. The team gradually progressed with their highest sellout of 19,526 in the 2022-23 season. 

The broadcasting partners of the NHL averaged 491,000 viewers in the 2014-15 season. The Winter Classic and Stadium series had an average of 1.457 spectators.

Florida Panthers did not have much luck during that season. They were ranked last among the 32 teams seating only 11,271 audiences throughout the season.

The Stanley Cup championship of the season had the highest TV viewers. Blackhawks and Lightning competed and the former team won the postseason finals.

Game 6 was viewed by over 8.005 million people which received a 4.4 rating. Talking about teams, Blackhawks had the maximum audience followed by Canadiens and Wings. 

Blackhawks remained first on the list in terms of attendance in 2013-14 as well. They sold out 22,623 tickets for their home games at the United Center based in Chicago.

Coyotes were positioned last with a company of 13,776 fans. The most-watched game of the season was the Winter Classic. The combined viewership reached 8.235 million from NBC, CBS, and RDS.

The finals of the postseason games recorded millions of viewers. Game 3 between the Rangers and the Kings totaled 6.413 million spectators with a rating of 3.7.

NHL had announced six outdoor league games in the same season. The league organized four Stadium Series games in January, a Winter Classic, and a Heritage Classic game in March.

NHL attendance 10-11 by team Blackhawks was 21,423 as per the Hockey Database. Chicago landed first while the Canadiens stood beside them with 21,273 attendees.

The playoff finals of the 2012-13 season peaked with 8.160 million watchers. It was the 6th game between the Blackhawks and Bruins. Chicago won 4 games and became the ultimate victor.

Game 3 averaged over 4 million spectators making it the most-viewed playoff finals game on cable TV in 11 years. Likewise, NBCSN received the best viewership among adults by this matchup.

Blackhawks surpassed other teams in the audience count and landed in the first position. Islanders had the least number of attendance of 13,307 people.