It set a then-world record for the largest crowd at an ice hockey game with 74,544.

[1] Longtime rivals with the University of Michigan in hockey (and other sports), MSU decided not to play this contest at East Lansing's Munn Ice Arena, but instead set up the ice rink in the middle of the much larger Spartan Stadium, which they filled to 103.4% capacity.

This meant that 74,544[2] packed the Big Ten football stadium (the home of the MSU football team) to watch the MSU Spartans and the U-M Wolverines skate to a 3–3 tie.

The opening game of the 2010 IIHF World Championship took place on May 7 at the retractable-roof Veltins-Arena, normally used by the soccer club Schalke 04.

On this occasion, the stadium's configuration allowed for a capacity of 75,976, which would ultimately be exceeded by almost 2,000, breaking the all-time attendance record.