Thanksgiving week proved lucrative for the Blackhawks at the box office.
The Hawks sold out three times on their four-game homestand, announcing attendances of 20,411 against the Avalanche (Nov. 23), 18,933 against the Wild (Wednesday), 19,755 against the Predators (Friday) and 19,912 against the Ducks (Sunday).
Those big crowds to wrap up November boosted the Hawks’ attendance average for the season to 18,094 through 14 home games, which is lower than their average at this point during each of the last two seasons — 18,567 and 18,662, respectively — but a lot higher than it was in October.
The Hawks have climbed to 11th in the NHL in attendance, and they likely will continue that ascent in December. They have only five home games this month, but the first two are against Original Six opponents (the Rangers and Red Wings) and the latter three are scheduled during the Christmas/New Year’s holiday stretch.
This narrative looks different than it did a month ago. The Hawks struggled considerably at the gate in October, averaging only 16,806 fans — well below the league average.
They failed to sell out their home opener Oct. 11, then drew fewer than 17,000 fans for four of their next five games — something that happened only four times all of last season. That included a crowd of 15,100 on Oct. 28 against the Senators, their smallest in a span of 90 home games dating to March 2023.
October is always the hardest month to sell tickets, and the Cubs’ playoff run and the Bears’ improvement didn’t help.
The Hawks also think it took some time for their marketing campaigns, which include more visible advertising around the city (such as at bus stops and O’Hare Airport) than at any time in recent memory, to influence consumer behavior.
More visibility on TV has helped, too, as much as the lack of visibility last season hurt. Chicago Sports Network’s availability on Comcast this season had led to a 121% increase in the Hawks’ household and direct-to-consumer viewership, as of mid-November.
The Hawks don’t think the team’s unexpected on-ice improvement has had a huge impact yet, but it might begin to if that competitiveness continues into the new year. Winning leads to good times, and fans who have a good time at the United Center will be more motivated to return soon.
That might boost ticket sales in January, which is saturated with 11 home games. It works in the Hawks’ favor that one of the least-appealing dates, at least theoretically — Monday, Jan. 19, against the Jets — is a hot ticket because of Jonathan Toews’ return.
Either way, the Hawks are confident they won’t dip into the 15,000s again this season, barring something unforeseen. They finished last season averaging 18,585 fans and have plenty of time left in 2025-26 to get back to close to that number.
It also will be interesting to see the turnouts of Hawks fans this week at road games in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Anaheim, three warm-weather cities with plenty of Chicago transplants. Thousands of red-clad fans descended on Tampa, Florida, for the Hawks-Lightning game Oct. 23.
Around the league, ticket sales remain strong — continuing a trend since COVID — with 15 teams selling out every or nearly every game and all 32 teams averaging more than 87% of their official capacity.
The resurgent Sharks, who played in front of sparse crowds at SAP Center too often in recent years, are a positive story, with attendance up more than 2,000 fans per game compared with this point last season. The Wild, who aren’t consistently selling out for the first time in recent memory, are the biggest fallers.
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