The IIHF is looking to set an attendance record at the 2010 world championship. The opening game of the 2010 tournament will be played at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, home of a top-league German soccer team, Schalke 04.
The soccer stadium has a potential capacity of 75,976. Should the game sell-out, it would create a new world record for hockey attendance in a single game, breaking the current record of 74,554, which was set in a game between Michigan State and Michigan in East Lansing, Michigan in 2001.
"This should be a showcase event, which will bring together everything we have learned about staging the IIHF World Championship in a perfect setting," said IIHF president Rene Fasel. "Together with the 2010 Organizing Committee and our long-standing marketing partner Infront we will create a landmark for our sport."
Team Germany is set to take part in the historic opening game, with potential opponents being Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland or the Czech Republic.
The 2010 IIHF World Championship takes places between May 7-23, 2010 in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne and the SAP Arena in Mannheim. The German Organizing Committee expects 500,000 spectators at the 56 games.