Fife Flyers’  fans flock rinkside as Elite League hits one million attendances

The magic milestone was reached when a sold out crowd at Braehead Arena in Renfrew took the total for the 2023/24 campaign to 1,000,432 - and that number will continue to rise until the very last buzzer has sounded with sold out games this weekend.

Fife Flyers are among the team enjoying an upturn in attendances, with barely a handful of seats still available for Sunday’s massive showdown with Dundee Stars. It should be the biggest attendance for a number of years.The club pulled in 1500 fans for Wednesday’s game against Sheffield Steelers - an excellent midweek turn out on a bitterly cold, dreich night.

The team’s packed community schedule - organised by Todd Dutiaume as part of his role behind the scenes - has paid dividends with many young faces rinkside for the first time, spending in the club shop and soaking up the big match atmosphere, while Tom Coolen’s hard-working team has also won the approval of fans who have enjoyed their hockey across this season.

Since 2010, crowds in the Elite League have increased some 73%, the biggest growth of any league in Europe over the same time period by some margin. Average attendance in 2023/24 sits at just under 3,500 for the season so far, an increase of some 9% on the previous season.

This season's Playoff Finals weekend ticket sale has already exceeded both of the previous post-pandemic years, and is on track to be sold out for the first time since 2019.