Italy set another Olympic women's hockey attendance record for the nation in their second game of the 2026 Olympics drawing 10,727 fans to Milan's Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
Few on Team Italy, and only a select group of PWHL players on Team Sweden had played in front of a crowd the size their did Saturday at the Milano Cortina Olympics.
10,727 were in attendance to watch Sweden improve to 2-0 with a 6-1 win over Italy in the Olympic women’s hockey tournament.
It’s a continued trend of large crowds showing up to support women’s hockey globally.
Last month the PWHL set a new American professional women’s hockey attendance record drawing 17,288 in Washington, DC.
In the weeks leading up to the games, Switzerland also set a new domestic attendance record for women’s hockey. A game between EV Zug and the ZSC Lions drew 4,997 fans in late January.
At the most recent 2025 women’s World Championships in Czechia, the tournament broke the all-time World Championships.
The trend has continued at the 2026 Olympics in Italy.
When Italy last hosted the Olympics in 2006, the most attended game came in a preliminary round game between Canada and Italy that drew 8,399. That mark has already been surpassed by Italy's opening win over France that saw 9,356 fans in attendance.
Their most recent however, with 10,727 at the Milan's Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
Through eight games in Italy, the women's hockey tournament is averaging 5,784 fans per game.