“The compensation the clubs receive is extremely low”

In recent years, both women’s and men’s Superpesi’s viewership numbers have been on the decline.

Before the corona, in the 2019 season, the men’s Superpesis matches had an average of over 1,200 spectators per match. This season, almost 200 pairs of eyes have melted from the average viewership of the series, with the average per match being just over 1,000 viewers.

In 2019, the worst crowd group SiiPe gathered 890 spectators per match, this year five teams have fallen below those figures. Three years ago, as many as 12 teams reached an average of more than a thousand spectators, but now there are only seven such teams.

The uncertainty and restrictions brought by the pandemic have understandably reduced the audience average of the top leagues of the national sport. Executive Director of the Baseball Association Vesa Rämetin according to the pandemic is still visible in the behavior of the fans.

– Corona is still not completely gone and people are still prepared. Many are wondering if they dare to buy tickets if the match is canceled, Rämet says in an interview with Urheilu.

Rämet emphasizes that Korona alone does not explain the declining trend of the audience. As many as 53 percent of Superpesis’ viewers live outside big cities.

– If you often drive to watch matches further away, the increased price of fuel also has an effect. The beauty of all outdoor sports is that we are completely dependent on the weather. The audience is the most in June-July, and this year both the rains and the heat have kept people from the stands.

In the 2019 season, the audience average of the Women’s Superpesis was over 500, now the same figure is over 400 spectators per match. In the 2019 season, Lapuan Virkiä, the number one in the audience statistics, collected an average of almost 600 spectators per match, which only Pori Pesäkarhut has reached this season.

The reigning champion Pori is currently an overwhelming audience magnet in the women’s Superpesis, which raises the audience average significantly. The average audience for the Cubs this season is close to 1,000 spectators per match.

– For years, Pori has done determined and good work for the visibility of women’s baseball and the interest of the match event. The public has also embraced the team, Rämet sheds light on Pesäkarhuje’s popularity.

The report “Profiles of people interested in Superpesis” by the research company Sponsor Insight from last March provides additional information about baseball audiences.

60 percent of top baseball followers are men and 40 percent are women. 26 percent of the viewers are pensioners, only 7 percent are students.

The decrease and aging of the audience at the stands has been observed, for example, through women’s baseball in Lapua, the most successful locality. Virkiä’s audience numbers have clearly decreased from the team’s successful years, the audience record of 3,200 spectators in previous years has come a long way down.

– When success came, 1,000 people was such a limit that if you fell below that, you were disappointed. Today, if there are 500 spectators at the match, we are satisfied. The fall has been huge, the chairman of Virkiä’s baseball division Tero Ala-Nissilä line.

Currently, Virkiä’s average is 397.

The previous winning dynasty of the 11-time Finnish champion is from 2011–2015. At that time, success had a special effect on the townspeople.

– Many commented that what’s the point of coming there when you always win. Winning is nice, but if it turns into eating porridge in the morning, then you won’t feel it anywhere. Now, after seven years, there is an awful hunger to return to the number one spot, says Ala-Nissilä.

Gamemaster Tero Viinamäki in my opinion, the general uncertain world situation also affects the fact that people use their money cautiously and think carefully about where to put their euros.

However, according to Päsäpalloliitto Rämet, the aging of the audience is not a general trend in Finland, but a locality-specific phenomenon.

– Finland is getting older, but we have a diverse audience in both men’s and women’s Superpes, consisting of families, children, men and women. The age structure varies a lot depending on the location, Rämet emphasizes.

One explanation behind the decreased audience numbers is also Superpesis’ TV contract. Päsäpalliito has an agreement with Sanoma’s Ruutu service, which shows all Superpesis matches.

Baseball is Ruuttu’s most watched domestic baseball series, and the contract currently brings the Päsäpalliito an estimate around 100,000 euros (you switch to another service) annual income. The Baseball Federation did not agree to tell Urheilu how much of the compensation from broadcast rights is distributed to the clubs.

According to Virkiä’s Tero Ala-Nissilä, the clubs only get crumbs from the income.

– The compensation the clubs receive from the Ruutu contract is extremely small, Ala-Nissilä sighs.

Chairman of Kouvola Ballonlögien Harri Lehto has sent a letter to the Päsäpalliito’s executive board, in which he demands an explanation and decisions on how the TV money and other income coming to the Päsäpalloliito will be distributed in the future.

According to the executive director of the Päsäpalloliitto, Vesa Rämet, the Ruutu agreement brings clubs and the sport, above all, visibility, which can be used, for example, in entering into partnerships and advertising sales.

The current contract has been drawn up until the end of the 2026 season.

In Lapua, it has been noticed that, especially in rainy weather, people prefer to watch the match from the sofa at home rather than from the stands of the stadium.

– The people of Lapua have always been interested in baseball, and of course success helps in that. One of the reasons for the decreased number of spectators is certainly the fact that in bad weather Ruuutu makes it easier to watch the matches, and you won’t have to go to the venue in the same way again, Lapua Virkiä’s captain Kaisaleena Oukko tells.

In order to attract young people to the fairways, it has even been considered to bring TikTok stars or similar idols as halftime entertainment. According to game director Tero Viinamäki, the solution to attract the audience must be game-like.

– The game has to be interesting and entertaining, no one wants to come and watch just copying, Viinamäki states.