I lived in Sweden for a couple of years, and let me comment about hockey attendance there.
The most important factor is that, apart from Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo, all the teams are from small towns. So the potential for attendance is many of these cities are small. For example, MODO is in Ornskoldsvik, a municipality of 50,000 people. The arena seats 7,000, so there's one seat for ever seven people in the city. And there's not much nearby in that part of the north. But northern teams like MODO, Lulea and Skelleftea pull 4-5,000 people every game.
I don't understand why the games in Stockholm (AIK and Djurgardens aren't better attended; AIK hasn't drawn well even in the Elitserien, Djurgarden usually had close to a sell-out with they were in Elitserien.
It matters a lot what day of the week games are; early week games aren't nearly as well as attended as on the weekend.
Another interesting financial fact about Swedish clubs (and they are clubs, formally): Swedish clubs cannot carry a financial loss from one season to the next. So if they lose money one year they have to make it up the second, or cut costs the season after that.
There have been a wave of new areas built the last 10-15 years. Arenas are built by the municipal government. They regard them as a civic benefit, so they are willing to spend to build. The new arena in Vaxjo is a good example. It was built even when Vaxjo Lakers were in the Allsvenskan. Orebro also built without an Elitserien club, but last year both were promoted. At other times, big shows and theaters are booked into these theaters, but even if they sell-out, they usually only break even. So the city government are admitting that arenas are good for the city, unlike in the USA where builders claim that they will make money for the city (which they don't, as many studies have shown).
I can't think of many towns where they can build a new arena. Rogle could use one. Leksands has a magnificant arena for 6,000, but the hockey team there has such tradition and big support, even when they were in second-division Allsvenskan. They draw from throughout the province of Dalarna.
Swedish hockey probably gets a good amount of TV money, but I don't know how much. All I know that the monthly subscription for the channels that carry both first and second divisions are pretty expensive, around $40/month.
Tickets are pretty reasonably for what you get, in most cities around $20-$30. In Stockholm it's more.
One mention about players' salaries. I'd be surprised if there are many Swedish players that make more than the NHL minimum. So the incentive is there, and lots of young players go.
And one comment about the KHL and Europe. KHL interests are not doing this for the money. All these clubs have sponsors that write multi-million ruble checks to support the clubs. It's guys with more money than they know what to do with, and want to buy prestige. I don't think they'd ever be accepted in Sweden.
