In my own childhood and youth, I found my great heroes in the ice rink. Modern children and young people can find them on Youtube, writes Jussi Paasi.
A reading that slammed the jaws open. That was the number of people in Turkuhalli last Saturday.
All the Finnish Championship clubs – HIFK and Ilves, maybe excluding Tapparak – can only dream of that number.
A week ago, a full round of seven matches was played in the men’s hockey main series. The largest audience was in Rauma: 4,022 spectators. Three locations failed to break even the 3,000 pair of eyes.
At the same time, there were almost 8,000 people in the Artukaisten Arena in Turku, also known as the sausage boiler. How was that possible? And how did a large number of fans under the age of 40 get into the hall?
Tubetters know the answers to those questions. TPS did not play in Turku Hall a week ago. There they did Roni Bäck team and team NikojaSanttu. Finnish Youtube stars had recruited faces familiar from entertainment programs and also the wrestling world champion Petra Ollin.
I only heard about that match a couple of days after the game when I came across a newspaper story about it. I decided to inquire about it from my 10-year-old close relative. I asked if he knew of such an event. The answer came as if from a pharmacy shelf.
“Yeah, my friend Olavi was there. There was Ron’s team and that was NikojaSanttu. ”
Olavi, 9, had left to watch the match in Turku from Helsinki. The ticket cost 10 euros for a child and 15 euros for an adult.
If Roni Bäck and his partners, like league teams, played twice a week in their home hall, the galleries would probably not reach such a messy audience, but now it is worth focusing on the age of the spectators as well.
Where does the future audience come from?
Dear friends of hockey! You who use the spot regularly watching the potty. Let’s do a little empirical research.
Observe the audience distribution of the ice rink. I guess you’ll find people around you are mostly over 40 years old.
Are there teenagers? What about children? In his twenties? I’m afraid it won’t show up. If the league team doesn’t happen to have a family game.
After that, think about who will come to that cup-seat or your standing stand in the future to enjoy a hockey game.
It would be wonderful to believe, as such a hardened sports romance, that when you reach a certain age, you would find your way to domestic hockey entertainment. To the race park, Nordis, Isomäki, Niirala monttu or Äijänsuo. Unfortunately, faith or romance doesn’t help here.
In my own childhood and youth, I found my great heroes and role models in the ice rink. Modern children and young people will find them on Youtube.
As I mentioned earlier, a few of the league clubs have access to the readers ’readings. Helsinki’s IFK has cherished its brand for years in such an exemplary way that fans come to the campfire camp faithfully from week to week.
Tampere’s Ilves is a pioneer in marketing from the Finnish Championship League teams, covering his competitors in the past. In Mansen’s brand new Arena, the IPA show is handsome to watch. Tappara, a local competitor who is a degree stiffer, has received a new boost in a lush framework.
If those three clubs are left out of the bills, the crowds in the main series will be stark. Sometimes someone reaches half of what the tubers in Turku got, but most of the time the audience starts with the second or third.
The main concern, which also concerns HIFK and the Tampere clubs, is the lack of a future audience.
Should Roni Bäck, the marketing and communications manager of the Finnish Championship League, be recruiting for his first job, To Niko Meuronen and To Santeri Hänninen? They seem to know how to reach children and young people. And get to the ice rink.