2023 Final series is breaking QMJHL attendance records
This year’s Gilles-Courteau Trophy Playoffs have the regular season’s top two squads facing off for the QMJHL’s ultimate prize. The top-ranked Quebec Remparts and second seed Halifax Mooseheads have been putting on quite a show, which has fans elated about the final series.
That infatuation has been reflected through each game’s attendance.
During Game 4 of the series that took place on Wednesday night, a QMJHL record was broken thanks to the sold-out crowd at Halifax’s Scotiabank Center. The record for average attendance per game in the league finals had been set back in 1983, when the Longueuil Chevaliers faced off against the Verdun Juniors, with an average attendance of 11,424 fans attending their games. Following Game 4, the new record now sits at a staggering 14,000+ spectators per game attending this year’s finals, with the average potentially increasing as the series advance.
Tonight’s Game 5 of the 2023 Final also represents another record-breaking moment in QMJHL history, this time for total attendance for a championship series. The previous record was established in 2006, the year the Moncton Wildcats took down the Remparts for the league title. A grand total of 62,024 fans from both Moncton and Quebec had made their way to the rink to show support to their teams throughout that year’s Final. Following tonight’s sold-out game at Quebec’s Videotron Centre, this year’s total will surpass 74,000 attendees for the final, eclipsing the previous record by nearly 12,000 fans!
Another record that has been continuously getting broken since this year’s finals began is the average attendance per playoff game in a single year. During the 2005 QMJHL postseason, an average of 5,324 fans had attended every matchup. With each additional game being played in this year’s championship series, the new record of 5,400+ attendees per game continues to be broken.
The numbers speak for themselves, the 2022-2023 season has been a spectacular one and fans from across the league seem to agree!
