In terms of sport, the Eisbären Regensburg are currently going through a valley in the second ice hockey league: the 1-2 derby in Weiden meant the sixth defeat in the last seven games for last season’s sensational champions. Nevertheless, the Upper Palatinate team has a phenomenal series going before the two home games on Sunday (5 p.m.) and Tuesday (8 p.m.) against Dresden and Ravensburg, which not only gives them a top spot in Germany but also in Europe at the second highest level.
With their current average attendance of 4,312, the Upper Palatinate are in sixth place in the largest second leagues in Europe in a comparison compiled by the ice hockey portal “Eisblog”. DEL-2-Primus Krefeld is in second place in this ranking with 5,389 spectators per game.
The leader in Europe’s second division ranking, with an average of 6,177 ice hockey fans, is Djurgardens IF, last year’s club owned by Eisbären Swede Olle Liss. There are also three other German second division teams in the top ten: Kassel (3885), Landshut (3739) and Rosenheim (3610).
DEL 2 continues to increase viewership
And interest in the DEL 2 continues to grow this season: With 367,849 fans plus, the DEL 2 attracted almost 30,000 more spectators to the stadiums by the German Cup break than in the same period last year, increasing its average by 246 fans per game from 2845 to 3091.
The Eisbären can now boast a series of spectators that is unparalleled in the club’s history since 1962. Last season’s game on December 28, 2023 against Ravensburg was the last game in the Donau-Arena with 4,000 fans, with 3,752 visitors at the time. This has been followed by ten main round home games since January 2, 2024 and the home game against Rosenheim (4,607 spectators) as well as ten playoff games at home last season plus a further eight season games in 2024/25, in which the Eisbären are one four ahead in the number of viewers reported.
In the 29th game of 2024, probably 4000 plus for the 29th time
Sometimes the traditionally less attended games during the week only just exceeded the sound barrier, such as against Bietigheim with 4002 (January 30, 2024), a Tuesday, or against Krefeld with 4012 (October 2, 2024), a Wednesday. The duel with Dresden will probably be the 29th time in the 29th Eisbären home game in 2024, where the number of fans is 4,000 or more.
At the beginning of the week, the club, which sold around 2,200 season tickets alone, had already reported 3,600 tickets sold again. Then the only question that remains is whether, in the midst of a negative sporting phase, the series will continue to exist after Tuesday’s game against Ravensburg.
