More than 10,000 fans filled the Hershey Bears’ home arena on Tuesday night to watch the oldest American Hockey League franchise take on the newest, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, in the Calder Cup Finals.
It was the third consecutive game in the AHL championship series to be sold out and pushed total playoff attendance for the NHL’s top developmental league above half a million fans. That’s a record for the nearly 90-year-old league that also set a new high water mark for revenue, which president and CEO Scott Howson estimates is 15% to 20% above pre-pandemic levels.
Three years after canceling the playoffs and two years after gutting through a shortened season with almost no fans in arenas and a few teams opting out of playing entirely, business is finally booming again for the AHL….