Empty seats a constant backdrop at world junior championship

Any glimpse of the seating areas at the 2026 world junior hockey championship in Minnesota has drawn immediate reaction.

For Canadian hockey fans, the contrast has been impossible to miss.

When the world juniors were held in Ottawa 12 months ago, Canada’s games were a must-see event. According to IIHF figures, an average of 18,240 fans packed Canadian Tire Centre, home of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, for Canada’s five games.

The current tournament, being held in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., has offered a very different picture.

Through the opening five games of the tournament, Canada’s games have averaged just 5,376 fans at 3M Arena at Mariucci — a building that holds roughly 10,000. That figure is well below recent Canadian standards, including the 2024 tournament in Sweden, where Canada still drew an average of 9,022 fans per game in Gothenburg.

The empty seats have become a constant backdrop, particularly during international matchups not involving the host United States — a reminder that outside of Canada, the world juniors don’t always carry the same cultural weight.

Playing out of Grand Casino Arena — home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild — the U.S. drew more than 14,000 fans for each of its five games, the last of which was a 4-3 overtime loss to Finland in the quarterfinals. The arena seats around 18,000, and for the most part, U.S. crowds showed up accordingly.

But beyond the hosts, interest has been far more limited.

The eight games not involving Canada at 3M Arena have drawn an average of just over 3,000 fans, while the seven matchups without the U.S. at Grand Casino Arena have averaged under 4,400. Outside of Canadian and American games, the two venues have routinely been about 70% and 76% empty, respectively — numbers that raise questions not just about location, but about pricing, scheduling and scale.

As is typical of the world juniors, many of the round-robin games have been played during workdays, but with ticket prices often closer to NHL levels than junior hockey. For casual fans, paying $50 US or more to watch two neutral teams has proven a tough sell, particularly in large buildings that struggle to generate atmosphere when sparsely filled.

Tournament organizers and local officials had hoped Canadian fans would help boost attendance. In early December, Wild owner Craig Leipold encouraged Canadians to travel south and support their team, saying great seats were still available and urging fans to put political tensions aside.

“Please come — we’re going to have great seats available right now,” Leipold told The Hockey News. “We need to support our Canadian young hockey players.”

So far, that call hasn’t fully resonated.

Visits from Canada to Minnesota were already down roughly 18% in 2025 compared to the previous year as of August, amid lingering cross-border tensions and negative sentiment toward the U.S. Early tournament attendance suggests that decline has carried into the stands.

In his comments to NBC affiliate KARE 11, Minnesota Sports and Events COO John Klinkenberg said it was unclear whether international relations between other countries were playing a role.

“With Canada, it seems to be building as Canada is continuing to perform well,” Klinkenberg told KARE 11. “The enthusiasm around that team is picking up.”

Canada drew its highest attendance for its New Year’s Eve clash with Finland, attracting over 7,582 fans. However, its quarterfinal drew just 5,250.

The four remaining semifinal and medal games will all be played out of the larger Grand Casino Arena, including Canada’s semifinal game against Czechia on Sunday.

“We hope for a packed crowd, but I think we’ve kind of (know) it might not always be packed,” said captain Porter Martone. “So you kind of got to get the energy yourself and through your team, but we know there’s gonna be 40 million Canadians watching back home, so that’s always a spark for us.”

Still, players have expressed gratitude for the Canadians who have made the trip down south.

“The crowd’s been good,” said Cole Beaudoin. “Canadian fans have come down to support us, and we appreciate that a lot.”

Overall tournament numbers tell the story of a sizable decline. Through Dec. 29, total attendance sat at 85,524 — well behind the 138,588 fans who attended at the same point last year in Ottawa, though ahead of the 72,796 drawn in Sweden the year before.

There have been bright spots. A New Year’s Eve matchup between the U.S. and Sweden sold out. But outside of marquee games, large sections of empty seats have been the norm.

Organizers were likely counting on elimination-round drama to spark a late surge, but with the host Americans knocked out in the quarterfinals, that boost may never arrive.

For Canadians accustomed to the world juniors feeling like a national holiday, Minnesota has offered a reminder of just how different the tournament feels without Canada’s crowds leading the charge.