How popular is ice hockey in Germany?

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

After seeing the U.S./Germany world cup game yesterday I was wondering how big is ice hockey in Germany?

I have read in several links that it is the 2nd biggest sport but far behind soccer. Is that what you guys think?

Any major hockey events coming either in Germany or for the German national team?

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[Maverick41]

It kind of feels like there is not second biggest sport in Germany.

It's football (soccer) and then there is such a big gap that the second most popular feels more like 4th or 5th.

And that spot is pretty much a toss up between handball, hockey and basketball, where I feel that Basketball has been doing the best job of improving it's status in recent years. Handball is very popular in northern Germany and somewhat in the southwest, while hockey is most popular in the south and in the west. Basketball on the other hand is a little more spread out.
But it is still rather close between these 3 sports. I am not counting individual sports like Formula 1 racing.

As far as upcoming events are concerned, the World Championships will be shared between France and Germany in 2017, and this winter the DEL will have it's second Winter Game (pretty much the same as the Winter Classic in the NHL) which will be played in the soccer stadium in Dusseldorf. If they sell out it will be 54,500 people watching.

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

Didn't they already have an outdoor hockey game in Germany that attracted 50,000+?

I thought hockey should be bigger because it is just like soccer except a lot faster, more exciting, and more physical! I have been trying to watch some of this World Cup Soccer yet it SOOOOOOO boring! It's even difficult to watch the U.S. games!

 

[Jonimaus]

Didn't they already have an outdoor hockey game in Germany that attracted 50,000+?

I thought hockey should be bigger because it is just like soccer except a lot faster, more exciting, and more physical! I have been trying to watch some of this World Cup Soccer yet it SOOOOOOO boring! It's even difficult to watch the U.S. games!

And that's how a lot of non-interested people feel about hockey, minus the physical part.

 

[Purple hippo]

Didn't they already have an outdoor hockey game in Germany that attracted 50,000+?

They did one in 2010 for the World Championship which had over 70,000 and then in 2013 the DEL hosted their first outdoor match between Nürnberg v. Berlin that had 50,000.

 

[modano]

Well, here are the revenues of 2012-2013:

3. Fußball-Liga: 121,9 Millionen Euro
Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL): 91,1 Millionen Euro
BEKO BBL (Basketball): 86,6 Millionen Euro
Handball Bundesliga (HBL): 83,6 Millionen Euro

attendance 2013-2014:

DEL: 2.694.196 (12 clubs)
BBL: 1.575.581 (18 clubs)
HBL: 1.420.556 (18 clubs)
3. Liga: 2.306.918 (20 clubs)

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

Well, here are the revenues of 2012-2013:

3. Fußball-Liga: 121,9 Millionen Euro
Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL): 91,1 Millionen Euro
BEKO BBL: 86,6 Millionen Euro
Handball Bundesliga (HBL): 83,6 Millionen Euro

attendance 2013-2014:

DEL: 2.694.196 (12 clubs)
BBL: 1.575.581 (18 clubs)
HBL: 1.420.556 (18 clubs)
3. Liga: 2.306.918 (20 clubs)

What?? According to that the DEL has a higher average per game than Bundesliga! Is that true?

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

They did one in 2010 for the World Championship which had over 70,000 and then in 2013 the DEL hosted their first outdoor match between Nürnberg v. Berlin that had 50,000.

Yeah, I knew it! Has Sweden, Finland, or Russia packed them in an outdoor stadium like that for hockey?

 

[modano]

What?? According to that the DEL has a higher average per game than Bundesliga! Is that true?

What Bundesliga do you mean? Football (first or second)? Handball? Basketball?

Every top league in Germany in these sports is called Bundesliga except the DEL.

 

[ts11]

What?? According to that the DEL has a higher average per game than Bundesliga! Is that true?

Just for clarification:

3. Fußball-Liga: 121,9 Millionen Euro -> soccer, third league, includes smaller clubs and some amateur teams for Bundesliga clubs (kinda farm teams)

Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL): 91,1 Millionen Euro -> hockey, highest national level
BEKO BBL: 86,6 Millionen Euro -> basketball, highest national level
Handball Bundesliga (HBL): 83,6 Millionen Euro -> team handball, highest national level and best or second best handball league worldwide

Rather sad to see as a hockey and handball fan

 

[Jonimaus]

What?? According to that the DEL has a higher average per game than Bundesliga! Is that true?

It's the 3rd division.

Also, I wouldn't put too much stock into gimmic games like the outdoor ones.

Yeah, I knew it! Has Sweden, Finland, or Russia packed them in an outdoor stadium like that for hockey?

The only way it would be even close to possible to fill a 70k stadium in Sweden for hockey (ignore the fact that we don't have a stadium that big) would be a gimmic game between Djurgården and AIK, and it would be like 70% football fans who doesn't give a crap about hockey but are just there because they love their club (in Sweden many clubs are active in several sports) and hate the rivals.

 

[FiLe]

Yeah, I knew it! Has Sweden, Finland, or Russia packed them in an outdoor stadium like that for hockey?

Finland probably could fill a stadium like that... if we had big enough stadiums. Jokerit and HIFK have met three times in Finland's biggest sports venue, the Helsinki Olympic Stadium - which draws roughly 40,000 people in summertime. The average attendance for the games played has been around 35,000 - so practically full draw, since some seats were out of use due to the games being played in the middle of winter.

 

[JVR]

Also the outdoor games don't say anything about the popularity of hockey imo, for many it's an interesting event, nothing more.

 

[zecke26]

Also the outdoor games don't say anything about the popularity of hockey imo, for many it's an interesting event, nothing more.

while i know at least one hockey fan who hates this outdoor crap and would never visit such.

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

It's shocking that Scandanavia doesn't even have a stadium that can hold 50K!

 

[Jonimaus]

It's shocking that Scandanavia doesn't even have a stadium that can hold 50K!

We do, for football. But you seem completly oblivious to as how many people live in Scandinavia. We're not highly populated countries. Sweden with its 9 million inhabitants is by far the most populated scandinavian/nordic country.

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

We do, for football. But you seem completly oblivious to as how many people live in Scandinavia. We're not highly populated countries. Sweden with its 9 million inhabitants is by far the most populated scandinavian/nordic country.

Then why did someone say earlier you don't have an outdoor stadium big enough for a 50K hockey game? Yes I know your population and the Nordic countries. It's really amazing how well Sweden does in international competitions considering how small they are.

I don't follow soccer very closely but I know they have done very well in previous World Cups. I don't know why they didn't qualify this year. Also in both the Olympics and Worlds Sweden has done great in hockey.

Since you are from Sweden here is a question for you. Which is bigger in Sweden, hockey or soccer?

 

[Jonimaus]

Then why did someone say earlier you don't have an outdoor stadium big enough for a 50K hockey game? Yes I know your population and the Nordic countries. It's really amazing how well Sweden does in international competitions considering how small they are.

I said 70k. I'm not sure we'd be close to able to fill a 50k hockey game. The problem is that hockey is not very popular in the big cities, and in Stockholm the fanbase is divided between 2 teams. If those 2 teams were up against eachother, and the arena was filled with football fans cheering on their hockey sister team, then maybe. The cities where hockey is super popular doesn't have even close to the population to fill a 50k stadium.

I don't follow soccer very closely but I know they have done very well in previous World Cups. I don't know why they didn't qualify this year. Also in both the Olympics and Worlds Sweden has done great in hockey.

We had basically as hard of a qualification for World cup as you can get. First of all, Europe world cup qualification is significantly harder than anywhere else in the world. First we had Germany in our group (only the group winners gets directly qualified), and Germany has arguably the best national team in the world. Then we drew Portugal as the playoff match, which is notorious for either being really really good, or really really bad. Sadly we got matched against them when they were playing their good football, not like they did in the actual world cup.

Since you are from Sweden here is a question for you. Which is bigger in Sweden, hockey or soccer?

Football is significantly more popular than hockey in Sweden. That's not saying hockey isn't a popular sport, but it's still not a contest as to which one is more popular.
Hockey is number 1 sport in most cities in the northern half of Sweden, but not many people actually live there, it's mostly very small towns/villages. The big cities are mainly dominated by football.
This would be a decent ranking:
1: European football (European leagues, champions league etc) 2: Swedish football league 3: Swedish hockey league 4: Everything else (NHL is not on the radar at all).

There has been some threads about it in the swedish section which you could browse through if interested:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1610221
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1540425

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

I wouldn't expect the NHL to be followed at all because Europe have their own leagues.

When you think of Sweden you think of a cold Nordic nation that loves hockey. I am rather surprised it is that far behind soccer. So is Finland the ONLY nation in Europe where hockey is #1? Czech Republic too?

 

[Jonimaus]

I wouldn't expect the NHL to be followed at all because Europe have their own leagues.

When you think of Sweden you think of a cold Nordic nation that loves hockey. I am rather surprised it is that far behind soccer. So is Finland the ONLY nation in Europe where hockey is #1? Czech Republic too?

Football is bigger in Czech Republic, but not by much. Latvia has hockey as their number 1 sport as far as I know. Then I'm not sure about countries like Kazhakztan and Belarus.

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

Football is bigger in Czech Republic, but not by much. Latvia has hockey as their number 1 sport as far as I know. Then I'm not sure about countries like Kazhakztan and Belarus.

So you agree hockey is #1 in Finland? What is #1 in Norway?

 

[Jonimaus]

So you agree hockey is #1 in Finland? What is #1 in Norway?

Hockey is definitely 1 in Finland. In Norway I'm not sure what's the biggest sport, it's either skiing or football, with womens handball after. Hockey isn't really on the radar.

 

[Urbanskog]

So is Finland the ONLY nation in Europe where hockey is #1? Czech Republic too?

It's the most popular sport in Latvia and Belarus as well.

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

Hockey is definitely 1 in Finland. In Norway I'm not sure what's the biggest sport, it's either skiing or football, with womens handball after. Hockey isn't really on the radar.

Isn't it strange how hockey is big in the 2 other Scandinavian nations but not Norway? I even met a Norwegian once and he told me how bitter cold Oslo is. Unfortunately we didn't get around to talking hockey but the weather is perfect for hockey so what gives?

 

[FiLe]

Unfortunately we didn't get around to talking hockey but the weather is perfect for hockey so what gives?

Small countries have less resources than big ones, which tends to lead into centralizing. Norway, a nation of five million, has sports more popular than hockey, which means that all resources are pooled up on those and most youth tend to pick them up as well.

It's the same reason why hockey is so inherently popular in Finland. Success breeds success. Most resources are pooled in hockey, leaving other sports more or less in secondary position. To simplify: If you have 30 talented guys, and 25 of them decide to form a hockey team, you don't have enough left to form a soccer team from the rest. It's the same, but in bigger scale.

I thought this is the stuff they teach in schools. Demographics 101.