Monsters lead AHL attendance again with franchise-best 11,438 per game

The Cleveland Monsters did more than win the AHL attendance race again. They turned Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse into one of the league’s most reliable environments, finishing with a franchise-best 11,438 fans per game and leading the league for the fourth straight season.

That number matters because it sits inside a bigger run of dominance. Cleveland finished No. 1 in attendance for the fifth time in the last six years and has ranked among the AHL’s top three in attendance for nine consecutive seasons. In a league that drew more than 6.8 million fans in 2023-24 and posted a 5,920 per-game average, third-highest in its 90-year history, the Monsters are not just keeping pace. They are setting the standard.

The turnout also shows the scale of Cleveland’s hockey market. Last season, the Monsters averaged 10,264 fans per game, the highest figure by any AHL team in 25 years. This season’s jump to 11,438 pushed the bar even higher and reinforced the value of having a crowded building around a Columbus Blue Jackets affiliate that now feels like a true event team in Cleveland, Ohio.

That crowd support carried into the postseason, where the Monsters clinched a berth in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs on April 3 with a 6-3 win over Milwaukee. Ahead of the playoff run, the club thanked its fans for the turnout that made another league title possible. The message did not need much elaboration. The numbers already told the story.

Cleveland’s home ice has also produced one of the loudest postseason scenes in recent AHL memory. Game 3 of the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals drew 12,659 fans, the largest AHL playoff crowd since Cleveland sold out Game 4 of the 2016 Calder Cup Finals. That kind of turnout changes the feel of a series. It changes how visiting teams skate, how late-game pressure lands, and how quickly a building can swing a game.

For the Monsters, the attendance crown is no longer a curiosity. It is proof that the franchise has relevance, the fan base has staying power, and home games in Cleveland have become must-see nights on the AHL calendar.