The most popular NHL fanbases leave clues on the backs of sweaters, but Alex Ovechkin gave Washington something more specific to buy. On April 6, 2025, his 895th career goal passed Wayne Gretzkyâs record. Afterward, Ovechkin sprawled on the ice in celebration. Fans could soon purchase a shirt carrying that very image.
The rush went well beyond another red No. 8. Sports Business Journal reported that Ovechkin set Fanaticsâ single-day merchandise revenue record for an NHL player across its online network. Washington also finished that day as the companyâs best-selling team across all sports. Signed pucks, commemorative shirts and other keepsakes gave supporters several ways to bring the moment home.
A milestone afternoon, though, cannot settle every argument about hockeyâs biggest following. Chicago sells the promise of a young star. Boston moves sweaters bearing a familiar crest, while Utahâs first jersey release brought hundreds of supporters to an arena before breakfast.
That makes the most popular NHL fanbases a richer story than one retail leaderboard. Who keeps fans buying, and what makes them reach for their wallets?
Read the label before reading the leaderboard
Player jersey rankings track names; team merchandise rankings capture a wider wardrobe. Hats, hoodies and blank sweaters can lift a clubâs sales without sending one star to the top. Fanaticsâ underlying transaction figures remain proprietary, so public rankings reveal the order without necessarily revealing the gaps.
Polling measures something different again. S&P Global Market Intelligenceâs first-quarter 2025 US survey placed Chicago, the Rangers and Detroit highest in stated team popularity among surveyed American internet adults. Those answers describe allegiance, not purchases, and cover the US rather than hockeyâs worldwide following.
With those distinctions clear, the most popular NHL fanbases come into sharper view through what sends them shopping: a new star, a familiar crest or a moment they want to keep.
Chicago buys into No 98
For a supporter choosing a fresh sweater, the nameplate can carry as much weight as the crest. Chicagoâs Connor Bedard offers that choice in two digits: 98.
Reporting on the NHLâs regular-season jersey rankings in April 2026, HockeyFeed placed Bedard first, ahead of Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Jack Hughes finished fourth, with Connor McDavid fifth. The order put a young Chicago forward above several players whose names have defined the league for years.
Bedardâs retail appeal had already surfaced early in his NHL career. ESPN reported in March 2024 that he led Fanaticsâ season-to-date jersey sales through February. Fans did not need a long NHL rĂŠsumĂŠ before choosing his name for their backs.
The purchase offers an appealing possibility: wear the next chapter while it still feels new. Someone buying a Bedard sweater can imagine the goals and playoff nights ahead. That interpretation cannot explain every transaction, but it helps explain why a young playerâs jersey carries a different emotional pull from a retirement keepsake.
Colorado supplied another kind of appeal in the 2025â26 ranking. Nathan MacKinnon finished sixth and Cale Makar seventh, giving Avalanche supporters two prominent choices. Their credentials add weight to those names: NHL award records show MacKinnon won the 2024 Hart Trophy, while Makar earned the 2022 Conn Smythe Trophy.
One sweater celebrates a league MVP; another carries the name of a playoff MVP. For the most popular NHL fanbases, several beloved players can share the spending rather than funneling every purchase toward one number.
Boston and New York sell the whole wardrobe
Picture the difference between a personalized sweater and a cap pulled on for a grocery run. Both carry the team into public. Only one requires a decision about whose name belongs above the number.
Bostonâs 2023 sales offered a useful demonstration. Fanatics figures reported by ESPN that May showed the Bruins leading team jersey sales during the regular season and opening playoff round. Ovechkin nevertheless led the individual regular-season jersey ranking.
Fans had pushed Boston ahead collectively while Washington supplied the leading individual seller. The distinction gives the Bruins their due without pretending one playerâs position captures every supporterâs spending.
New York provides a broader example. ESPNâs February 2018 reporting put the Rangers atop Fanaticsâ NHL team merchandise sales, covering jerseys, hats, jackets and other gear. Their participation in that seasonâs Winter Classic helped drive demand, the report noted.
An outdoor game gives an established following a fresh design and a specific date to remember. The familiar team becomes a new purchase again. Among the most popular NHL fanbases, tradition can keep its place in the closet while making room for another sweater.
Utahâs first jerseys draw a line around the arena
Salt Lake City supplied the scene that a spreadsheet cannot. On November 15, 2024, a queue wrapped around Delta Center ahead of Utah Hockey Clubâs inaugural jersey release. The Salt Lake Tribune counted more than 300 season-ticket holders waiting for the doors to open at 8 a.m.
They had already watched the new team begin its season. Now they could finally leave the arena wearing its official sweater.
The day produced an NHL regular-season record for merchandise revenue at an in-arena home game. Sports Business Journal reported that Utah surpassed the previous benchmark, set at Seattleâs first home game, by 29%. The comparison excluded outdoor and other offsite NHL events.
Most jerseys initially available were blank, the Tribune reported. Smith Entertainment Group had prioritized getting sweaters onto racks sooner rather than waiting for more premade player versions. For that first rush, the team name across the chest could do the talking.
Individual attachments formed quickly, too. Supporter Tara Lynn told the Tribune she chose Karel Vejmelkaâs name after his 49-save performance against Carolina. Another season-ticket holder, Scott Jackson, chose Dylan Guenther, who scored Utahâs first goal.
Those choices put faces behind the receipts. A spectacular night in goal persuaded one buyer; the franchiseâs opening goal mattered to another. The most popular NHL fanbases grow through moments like those, when a playerâs performance becomes someoneâs reason to choose a sweater.
From the team store to the everyday wardrobe
Lynn and Jackson found their players. The next purchase, though, would not necessarily need a nameplate. A supporter can save the personalized sweater for puck drop and reach for a team hoodie the following morning.
That everyday wardrobe has become another opportunity for hockey retailers. In an October 2025 announcement, Fanatics and lululemon said their initial NHL collectionâs launch day accounted for 80% of NHL sales across Fanaticsâ online network. Womenâs products represented nearly half of those purchases.
The companies also announced an expansion to all 32 clubs. Their figures showed how strongly shoppers could respond when a collection offered another way to wear familiar colors.
A jersey puts the crest front and center. A jacket or pair of leggings can make the same allegiance part of an ordinary day. For retailers, that opens more opportunities than waiting for the next star signing or record-breaking goal.
Looking for the most popular NHL fanbases therefore means looking beyond the rows of numbered sweaters. Some purchases celebrate a hat trick. Others simply give a fan something comfortable to wear on Wednesday.
The sweater that comes after the celebration
The next revealing purchase will come after the commemorative display disappears. Ovechkinâs record supplied a date nobody could repeat. Utahâs inaugural jerseys offered a first chance that would never feel quite the same again.
What happens during the ordinary weeks deserves attention, too. Do supporters buy another sweater when the schedule loses its novelty? Can a team keep them interested when no record chase or special collection supplies an obvious reason to shop?
For the most popular NHL fanbases, repeated demand across comparable seasons would tell us more than an isolated launch. Retailers could make those comparisons clearer by consistently identifying the products, sales channels and periods behind their reports. A larger percentage means much more when readers know the starting point.
Fans, meanwhile, will keep making choices that resist a tidy explanation. One buyer wants the newest star. Another finally replaces a sweater worn through years of winter evenings. A parent chooses a childâs first jersey, hoping the name on the back becomes a shared favorite.
The appeal of merchandise lies partly in that intimacy. Sales data can show which products win the checkout battle, and occasionally reveal a remarkable surge. The sweater itself stays with its owner afterward, collecting associations no retailer can count.
Years later, the cuffs may fray and the player may leave. But what sales chart could measure the feeling of pulling that sweater on and remembering who taught you to love the game?
READ MORE: NHL Fanbases Are Changing as Women and Younger Audiences Shape Hockeyâs Future
FAQs
Q1. Which NHL player had the best-selling jersey in 2025â26?
A. Connor Bedard topped the 2025â26 regular-season jersey ranking reported by HockeyFeed. Alex Ovechkin finished second, followed by Sidney Crosby.
Q2. Do jersey sales show which NHL team has the biggest fanbase?
A. They show purchasing demand, not every supporter. Team merchandise sales also include hats, hoodies and blank sweaters that individual player rankings miss.
Q3. Why did Ovechkinâs 895th goal drive merchandise sales?
A. The milestone gave fans a historic moment to commemorate. Fanatics sold signed pucks, shirts and other keepsakes celebrating his achievement.
Q4. What merchandise record did Utah set?
A. Utahâs inaugural jersey release generated record NHL regular-season merchandise revenue at an in-arena home game, beating the previous benchmark by 29%.
Q5. What does the lululemon collection reveal about NHL fans?
A. Fans buy more than game-night sweaters. The initial collection accounted for 80% of NHL sales across Fanaticsâ online network on launch day.
