Virden repeats as MJHL attendance champions despite poor record
Advertisement
While the Virden Oil Capitals may have ended up missing the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs, the franchise is certainly thriving at the box office.
For the second consecutive year, Virden led the league in per game attendance, letting an average of 781 people through the doors at the Tundra Oil and Gas Place arena for games.
For the first time since the 2021/2022 season, no team averaged more than 800 fans per game, with both Steinbach and Winkler playing their seasons inside smaller temporary homes this season. The Flyers dropped from 842 fans per game to just 428, playing in the ICON arena.
The Flyers could only pack a maximum 644 people into the building for a playoff game, as fans filled the rink to its limits. PembinaValleyOnline reported earlier this year the team is expected to begin play inside the newly renovated Winkler Centennial Arena in January of 2026.
Even a pair of 2,000-plus games at the end of the season for Steinbach was only enough to raise their average to 615 after a season inside the small HyLife Centre in La Broquerie.
Just four teams (Virden, Steinbach, Portage and Dauphin) averaged over 500 fans per game this season. Niverville’s season total of 484 per game was hurt by a pair of scheduling conflicts, playing games at the exact same time as the CFL’s Grey Cup which featured the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (125 in attendance).
They also played at the same time as the Super Bowl this year, managing to draw 434 fans, their third fewest on the year. It’s Niverville’s first season averaging under 500 fans since they began play in 2022.
In Steinbach’s last season at the Centennial Arena, the team averaged 931 fans per game, more than 100 more than any other team that season.
The league’s two Winnipeg-based franchises reported many more games compared to previous years. Only 13 games were missing from the league’s online attendance reporting this season.
The Blues and Freeze are still struggling to draw fans, with the Blues only managing 97 fans per game, with the Freeze slightly increased to 111. Both teams are looking to change their fortunes for next season, with the Blues set to move from the Hockey for All Centre this season to move to the RINK Hockey Academy’s Southwest arena to begin next year, and the Freeze re-branding to the Monarchs.