The NHL had hopes of setting an outdoor hockey record for attendance in the most recent edition of the annual Winter Classic. While the crowd that braved the cold to watch the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs skate in the elements in Michigan Stadium was an impressive crowd, it fell a little short of setting the outdoor hockey attendance record.
The Guinness World Record representatives counted up the total number of fans that entered the gates for the game through the first period of the January 1 game. Media and officials were also included in the total number of attendees, but any fans entering Michigan Stadium in the second period of the game may not have been counted.
The NHL claimed to sell 105,491 tickets to the hockey game, which would have been enough to set the new outdoor record. It did, however, set a new NHL record without a doubt.
Instead, the record will remain owned by the University of Michigan and Michigan State from their 2010 game in the Big House. A record 104,173 fans were counted by Guinness at the game.
Michigan set a Michigan Stadium record for football attendance last September when 115,109 fans showed up for a primetime game against Notre Dame.