The Canadian Hockey League says total attendance at the 2023 Memorial Cup in Kamloops was 48,405 – an average of 5,378 people a game.
It also says nearly 4.5 million viewers tuned in to TSN and RDS over the course of the 11-day tournament, including an average audience of 687,000 who watched the championship game between the Québec Remparts and the Seattle Thunderbirds.
In a news release, the CHL says more than 8.5 million fans went to regular season and playoff games across the WHL, OHL, and the QMJHL in 2022-23, an over 30 per cent increase from the previous season.
The WHL also says its average attendance of the course of 748 regular season games was 3,895 people, a 22 per cent increase from the 3,205 people in 2021-22. WHL Playoff attendance was also up 37 per cent, to 4,689 over 75 games in 2023 compared to 3,575 over 72 games in 2022.
“It was a fantastic event in every respect,” WHL President Ron Robison said Thursday following the league’s Annual General Meeting in Calgary. “The community did an outstanding job in staging the event, led by the Blazers organization themselves.”
“The organizing committee led by Yves Lacasse and the terrific group of volunteers went out of their way to make sure the event was very successful. So we’d like to pass on our congratulations to the Blazer organization and the City of Kamloops for a wonderful job.”
“The level of enthusiasm and excitement seen from fans from the Canadian Hockey League over this last year was just incredible to see, especially during what was our first full season removed from the COVID-19 pandemic,” CHL President, Dan MacKenzie added.
“We truly have the best fans in the world, and for us to be able to welcome them back fully into our arenas and see attendance numbers across all three of our leagues return to pre-pandemic levels was outstanding.”
The 2023 Memorial Cup also raised over $180,000 for several causes, including the Canadian Mental Health Association, KidSport Canada, the Kamloops Legion and the Royal Canadian Legion’s Poppy Trust Fund, and the Memorial Cup Legacy Scholarship Program.
