In Canada, hockey remains king.

With the NHL regular season set to begin on Oct. 7, a new study by Vividata shows hockey remains Canada’s most followed sport with 16.5 million Canadian fans, more than any other professional league in the country.

Two-thirds of NHL followers (66%) identify as either super fans or avid fans, the highest of any league in Canada compared to the NFL at 60% and the CFL at 52%.

“Our data confirms what most Canadians already feel — hockey is tradition,” Pat Pellegrini, president and CEO of Vividata, said in a statement Monday.

The study found the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens dominate nationally, with fan bases of 4.6 million and 4.3 million respectively.

Leafs fans are the most engaged in the league, with 87% following more than half of games.

The survey found the average NHL fan in Canada is 49 years old, and 44% are women, while immigrants are 76% less likely to be NHL fans.

The Edmonton Oilers’ 1.5 million fans are the youngest on average (48), driven by Connor McDavid’s superstar status. Canadiens fans skew slightly older, with an average age of 51.

The Calgary Flames see 53% of Calgarians identifying as fans while Winnipeg is the most intense market with 37% of Jets fans identifying as NHL super fans, the highest proportion among Canadian clubs.

The Vancouver Canucks claim nearly two million fans while Ottawa rounds out the list with just over half a million fans, 42% of whom live outside Ontario — giving the Senators the biggest national footprint among smaller markets.

Sidney Crosby also remains a dominant figure with six million Canadian fans, showing the long-lasting power of legacy players.

More than 72% of Canadian sports fans follow sports content on social media while 73% of Canadians purchased sports merchandise in the past year, spending more than $3.2 billion.

Players like Auston Matthews are helping to drive spending with his fans 40% more likely than average to purchase player-branded gear.

“Hockey is still the country’s most powerful sports brand, but our numbers show it needs to evolve,” added Pellegrini.

“The next chapter will be written by how well the NHL engages younger and more diverse Canadians — and increasingly, that story will play out on social media and in merchandise sales.”

Vividata’s Study of the Canadian Consumer Sports 2025 is Canada’s most comprehensive sports fan study, surveying more than 50,000 Canadians annually across 65-plus leagues, hundreds of teams and players, and thousands of fan behaviours.