A hypothetical Nordic hockey league would have mostly Swedish teams, a couple of Finnish teams and a few Norwegian teams, at least if you go by attendance stats. One could argue that Norway is too far behind Sweden and Finland toc compete but there are actually some Norwegian teams (Stavanger, Storhamar and Vålerenga) that would be competitive. Storhamar eliminated Djurgården in the CHL group stage and nearly got passed Skellefteå AIK in the play offs, so there's some good hockey in Norway. Commercially I'd say Stavanger and Vålerenga are two possible top teams in a future Nordic hockey league.
Rank | Team | Total | Average | League |
1 | Frölunda | 161207 | 10075 | SHL |
2 | Djurgården | 113815 | 7588 | SHL |
3 | Färjestad | 104508 | 6967 | SHL |
4 | HIFK | 123962 | 6886 | SML |
5 | Malmö | 101138 | 6743 | SHL |
6 | HV71 | 90511 | 6465 | SHL |
7 | Linköping | 98330 | 6146 | SHL |
8 | Brynäs | 80918 | 5395 | SHL |
9 | Luleå | 80814 | 5388 | SHL |
10 | Tappara | 89600 | 5270 | SML |
11 | TPS | 98821 | 5201 | SML |
12 | Kärpät | 98265 | 5171 | SML |
13 | Örebro | 77109 | 5141 | SHL |
14 | Ilves | 91258 | 4803 | SML |
15 | Leksand | 74046 | 4628 | HA |
16 | Skellefteå | 68140 | 4543 | SHL |
17 | Växjö | 67624 | 4508 | SHL |
18 | AIK | 76282 | 4487 | HA |
19 | Ässät | 77666 | 4314 | SML |
20 | Rögle | 60127 | 4295 | SHL |
21 | Mora | 66119 | 4132 | SHL |
22 | Timrå | 56968 | 4069 | SHL |
23 | Storhamar | 58847 | 3923 | GL |
24 | Björklöven | 66072 | 3887 | HA |
25 | Pelicans | 74864 | 3743 | SML |
26 | Stavanger | 62555 | 3679 | GL |
27 | HPK | 69396 | 3652 | SML |
28 | JYP | 64820 | 3601 | SML |
29 | KooKoo | 62118 | 3451 | SML |
30 | Lukko | 61923 | 3440 | SML |
31 | KalPa | 64432 | 3391 | SML |
32 | SaiPa | 62626 | 3296 | SML |
33 | MODO | 52306 | 3269 | HA |
34 | Västerås | 55470 | 3263 | HA |
35 | Södertälje | 51575 | 3034 | HA |
36 | Sport | 58031 | 2901 | SML |
37 | Jukurit | 54480 | 2867 | SML |
38 | Karlskrona | 43378 | 2552 | HA |
39 | Oskarshamn | 41287 | 2429 | HA |
40 | Karlskoga | 40455 | 2380 | HA |
41 | SønderjyskE | 58632 | 2345 | ML |
42 | Vita Hästen | 35189 | 2199 | HA |
43 | Sparta Sarpsborg | 32023 | 2134 | GL |
44 | Aalborg Pirates | 52314 | 2093 | ML |
45 | Lillehammer | 30712 | 1919 | GL |
46 | Tingsryd | 29450 | 1732 | HA |
47 | Herning Blue Fox | 38201 | 1528 | ML |
48 | Almtuna | 24016 | 1501 | HA |
49 | Västervik | 23012 | 1438 | HA |
50 | IF Frisk Asker | 20645 | 1376 | GL |
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SHL: Swedish Hockey Liga
SML: SM-Liiga (Finland)
HA: HockeyAllsvenskan (Swedish second division)
GL: GET-ligaen (Norway)
ML: Metal Ligaen (Denmark)
If we look at social media then there's no Danish team in the top 50. The most popular non-Swedish/non-Finnish team is Stavanger Oilers, closely followed by Vålerenga. Storhamar is also doing better than some Swedish and Finnish top division teams.
# | Team | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Total | Land |
1 | Frölunda | 123,898 | 54 | 64,9 | 242,798 | Sweden |
2 | Jokerit | 92 | 39,5 | 62,5 | 194 | Finland |
3 | Djurgården | 118,136 | 25,7 | 42,3 | 186,136 | Sweden |
4 | HIFK | 84,6 | 41 | 45,7 | 171,3 | Finland |
5 | Kärpät | 103,3 | 19,7 | 46,2 | 169,2 | Finland |
6 | Färjestad | 78,360 | 16,1 | 40,7 | 135,16 | Sweden |
7 | Brynäs | 72,922 | 13,5 | 34,9 | 121,322 | Sweden |
8 | HV71 | 62,831 | 15,8 | 38,8 | 117,431 | Sweden |
9 | Tappara | 63,3 | 17,6 | 35 | 115,9 | Finland |
10 | Leksand | 73,410 | 11,4 | 30,5 | 115,31 | Sweden |
11 | Luleå | 46,251 | 11,1 | 26,4 | 83,751 | Sweden |
12 | TPS | 41,3 | 15,7 | 22 | 79 | Finland |
13 | Ilves | 39,9 | 15,1 | 21,7 | 76,7 | Finland |
14 | KalPa | 44,6 | 10,9 | 18,3 | 73,8 | Finland |
15 | JYP | 44,3 | 6,3 | 22 | 72,6 | Finland |
16 | Skellefteå | 31,893 | 6,270 | 30,3 | 68,463 | Sweden |
17 | Ässät | 30,7 | 12,5 | 16 | 59,2 | Finland |
18 | SaiPa | 31,4 | 13,4 | 13 | 57,8 | Finland |
19 | Växjö | 21,151 | 9,576 | 22,5 | 53,227 | Sweden |
20 | Modo | 22,495 | 9,679 | 20,5 | 52,674 | Sweden |
21 | Pelicans | 25,8 | 12,3 | 13,6 | 51,7 | Finland |
22 | Malmö | 27,012 | 5,379 | 17 | 49,391 | Sweden |
23 | Stavanger Oilers | 27,9 | 7,1 | 13,7 | 48,7 | Norway |
24 | Örebro | 22,795 | 5,379 | 16,8 | 44,974 | Sweden |
25 | Vålerenga | 19,0 | 6,8 | 18,8 | 44,6 | Norway |
26 | AIK | 12,4885 | 11 | 19,4 | 42,8885 | Sweden |
27 | Sport | 20,9 | 8,5 | 13 | 42,4 | Finland |
28 | Lukko | 18,2 | 11,2 | 12,3 | 41,7 | Finland |
29 | HPK | 19,9 | 9,9 | 11,4 | 41,2 | Finland |
30 | Linköping | 16,269 | 7,760 | 17,1 | 41,129 | Sweden |
31 | Storhamar | 19 | 5,6 | 15,9 | 40,5 | Norway |
32 | Rögle | 19,358 | 2,281 | 15,2 | 36,839 | Sweden |
33 | KooKoo | 14,3 | 5,9 | 10,8 | 31 | Finland |
34 | Jukurit | 14,2 | 4,6 | 8,5 | 27,3 | Finland |
35 | Timrå | 13,474 | 4,435 | 9,259 | 27,168 | Sweden |
36 | Björklöven | 13,716 | 2,946 | 9,164 | 25,826 | Sweden |
37 | Västerås | 15,169 | 3,893 | 6,493 | 25,555 | Sweden |
38 | Södertälje | 14,969 | 3,475 | 6,047 | 24,491 | Sweden |
39 | Karlskrona | 8,595 | 4,261 | 5,945 | 18,801 | Sweden |
40 | Karlskoga | 10,041 | 3,085 | 5,505 | 18,631 | Sweden |
41 | Mora | 9,127 | 2,392 | 4,953 | 16,472 | Sweden |
42 | Lillehammer | 8,0 | 2,7 | 5,0 | 15,7 | Norway |
43 | Vita hästen | 11,308 | 2,338 | 1,628 | 15,274 | Sweden |
44 | Frisk Asker | 8,2 | 2,4 | 4,3 | 14,9 | Norway |
45 | Sparta Warriors | 7,7 | 1,1 | 4,6 | 13,4 | Norway |
46 | Stjernen | 6,8 | 1,6 | 2,8 | 11,2 | Norway |
47 | Västervik | 3,173 | 1,427 | 5,205 | 9,805 | Sweden |
48 | Oskarshamn | 3,549 | 2,312 | 3,932 | 9,793 | Sweden |
49 | Almtuna | 4,733 | 1,462 | 3,445 | 9,64 | Sweden |
50 | Tingsryd | 4,193 | 1,792 | 2,388 | 8,373 | Sweden |
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Perhaps the most interesting question is what level media rights are on. In Sweden the SHL is making more than €50 million per year in TV rights. I have read that SM-Liiga makes €20 million and I have no idea about GET-ligaen and Metal-ligaen. Would be interesting to know.
To summarize: right now there's no commercial reason to create a Nordic league with an even number of Swedish and Finnish teams. More than half of all teams would be Swedish, if we take attendance, social media exposure and media rights into account. Besides Sweden and Finland, a Nordic league should probably focus on Norway for growth. Denmark have seemingly not matured enough to play in a Nordic league.
A possible format could be a South/Western and North/Eastern conference. 10 teams in each, with the most popular Swedish and Finnish teams to maximize the commercial value. This is not a new concept. I have heard about it before. Someone once called these conferences "Atlantic" and "Baltic" respectively.
Atlantic Conference: 7 Swedish teams + 3 Norwegian teams
Stavanger Oilers, Stavanger, Norway
Vålerenga, Oslo, Norway
Storhamar, Hamar/Hedmarken region, Norway
Frölunda Indians, Gothenburg, Sweden
HV71, Jonkoping, Sweden
Malmö Redhawks, Malmo, Sweden
Färjestad, Karlstad, Sweden
Leksand, Leksand/Falu-Borlange-region, Sweden
Rögle, Ängelholm/Helsingborg-Landskrona region, Sweden
Baltic Conference: 5 Swedish teams + 5 Finnish teams
Djurgården, Stockholm, Sweden
AIK, Stockholm, Sweden
Brynäs, Gävle-Sandviken region, Sweden
Luleå, Luleå, Sweden
Linköping, Linköping, Sweden
HIFK, Helsinki, Finland
Tappara, Tampere, Finland
TPS, Turku, Finland
Kärpät, Oulu, Finland
Ilves, Tampere Finland
The Baltic conference would be rebalanced if Jokerit joined the Nordic hockey league (4 Swedish teams + 6 Finnish teams).