Ice hockey in Sweden has a history going back at least the early 1920s. The sport was first organized in the country by the
Swedish Football Association (SvFF), which was a founding member of the
IIHF in 1920. The hockey department of the SvFF eventually split off to become the
Swedish Ice Hockey Association (SIHA) which today is still responsible for organizing Sweden's domestic leagues and its participation in tournaments internationally. The highest tier of men's ice hockey in Sweden, the
SHL, brought in 1,974,388 spectators in the 2013–14 season, the highest overall attendance in Swedish sports. The SHL's average of 5,983 spectators per match is bested only by
Allsvenskan, the country's top flight of
association football.