PWHL games continue to smash attendance records, and did so again tonight as 19,285 fans attended the Battle on Bay Street between Toronto and Montréal at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
This breaks the all-time attendance record for a women’s hockey game in the world. Previously, the record was 18,014 fans at Canada versus Finland World Championship Group Game on April 5, 2013 at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.
This is just the latest – and largest – record-breaking crowd for the new league. On Jan. 2, their second day of existence, the PWHL broke the attendance record for a professional women’s hockey game with 8,318 fans at TD Place Arena in Ottawa to see Montréal versus Ottawa. Four days later, on Jan. 6, Minnesota broke that record with 13,316 fans at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul when they hosted Montréal.
The previous record for professional leagues was held by the SDHL in the 21-22 season championship series. On April 3, 2022, Monitor ERP Arena in Gävle saw 6,538 fans pack the stands to watch hometown Luleå take on Brynäs in Game 3 of the five-game series. Four days later, on April 7, 2022, they broke their own record with 7,765 at the final at Monitor ERP Arena in Gävle.
Other assorted records for record-keeping (get it…)…
- 16,805 – highest attendance at the Olympics: Canada versus USA on Feb. 25, 2010 at Canada Hockey Place in Vancouver.
- 15,359 – NCAA attendance record for a women’s hockey game: Wisconsin Badgers hosting St. Cloud State on Jan. 16, 2017 at Kohl Center in Madison, WI for the Badgers’ annual Fill the Bowl Game. The Badgers also hold the second-highest record with 14,430 on Feb. 3 of this year, and per the school’s release about that game, are the only school to break 10,000 fans at a women’s college hockey game. They’ve done that six times, by the way.
- 14,551 – highest attendance for the US National Team while playing in the US: USA versus Canada on Nov. 21, 2021 at a Rivalry Series game at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.