Where Do Washington State Hockey Fans Rank?

In December of 2018 the NHL granted an expansion franchise to Seattle Hockey Partners, making sure the 32nd franchise in the league would represent the Emerald City.  That followed over 35,000 deposits collected for season tickets (in March of that year) in a few short hours.  Initial season tickets plans sold out by the time the puck dropped on October 12th 2021.

In three short seasons the Kraken have made it to the Western Conference Finals (2023) and played host to the NHL’s signature regular season event, The Winter Classic (2024).  With all of that said…has Seattle developed into a hockey hotbed?  Wallethub.com did a survey on the best hockey cities in America.  There is positive, and some not so positive.

Wallethub took 21 factors into consideration when creating their methodology.  One of the factors that hurt Seattle a little was the lack of NCAA Hockey as it weighed 20 percent of the total score.  To be fair Detroit, the home of the Red Wings, also doesn’t have NCAA hockey in the city.  Their data set also includes factors from ticket prices to stadium capacity to the performance level of each city’s teams.

Being a young franchise didn’t help in the rankings as a lack of history and accomplishments on the ice couldn’t offset the zeal and passion Kraken fans show every home game.  As far as cities with hockey teams go, Seattle placed 24th on the list of 76.  That 24th spot was also the lowest for a city with an NHL franchise.  One of the other things that hurt the Kraken was the highest ticket price in the NHL…3 1/2 times higher than Florida, which has the lowest.

Seattle also got low marks for fan engagement, coming 22nd, just above Los Angeles and New York City.  If you’d like to see all of the results from the Wallethub.com “Best Cities for Hockey Fans” study, click here.