The Abbotsford Canucks average home attendance for the 2022-23 American Hockey League regular season finished at 4,898.
It’s an increase of just over 14 per cent from 2021-22, but much of that season was played under 50 per cent capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The 4,898 number puts Abbotsford in 20th place out of 32 teams in the AHL. They ranked third amongst the six Canadian-based AHL clubs trailing the Laval Rocket (7,647) and the Toronto Marlies (5,471). Abbotsford placed fourth in the Pacific Division for average attendance.
The Cleveland Monsters topped the AHL with an average attendance of 9,521.
The Canucks saw a dip in attendance numbers in March and April and averaged 4,446 over those 11 games.
The club’s high point occurred on Jan. 21 when the Calgary Wranglers game drew 7,081. The number is the highest reported attendance in regular season team history. Abbotsford also cracked the 6,000-plus mark on Oct. 28 (6,519 vs. San Diego Gulls), Dec. 3 (6,407 vs. Laval Rocket) and Feb. 10 (6,133 vs. Tucson Roadrunners).
The low point occurred on March 7 when the Manitoba Moose game saw 3,520 at the AC. A total of 3,555 fans attended the Moose game on March 8. The Bakersfield Condors game on Nov. 29 drew 3,896. All three of the aforementioned games occurred on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
Playoff attendance was strong for the Canucks, with the team averaging 6,425 over the four games. A large crowd of 6,897 took in the game four elimination loss to the Wranglers on May 5.
The attendance numbers also mean it’s unlikely that the City of Abbotsford will receive revenue sharing from the team. According to the contract signed in 2021, the city will benefit from enhanced financial gains by sharing in the profits if there is an average of 5,000 tickets sold per regular-season game.
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Attendance does not reflect tickets sold, but it’s possible that the tickets sold number will be below the average attendance number.
The City of Abbotsford stated that they have not yet received an official report from the team on the average number of tickets sold per game. They are expecting to receive a report by the end of July.
As per the contract, the City set aside $1.5 million earlier this year to upgrade the AC’s scoreboard and LED ribbon board display. The project is expected to be completed by Aug. 31.
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