The ice hockey Mesti’s season gets off to a flying start when Kiekko-Espoo and Helsinki Jokerit meet on Thursday evening in the sold-out Espoo arena. The opening of the season will be watched by over 6,900 spectators in Espoo.
Kiekko-Espoo’s spectator goals for the entire season are moderate, says the club’s CEO Aku Kallonen.
– Last season, our average viewership was 1,100. Our moderate goal for this season is 1,500, but of course we strive to exceed our goal, Kallonen explained.
According to Kallonen, sales of season tickets have started briskly, but he did not want to give exact figures on the tickets sold.
– A record number of season tickets have been sold in the era of the new Espoo ice hockey, but we will not open all our figures until after our general meeting in October, Kallonen acknowledged.
Kiekko-Espoo, who won the Mestis championship last season, had previously said that it plans to apply for a SM league license for the 2024–25 season. However, the SM League decided in the summer, among other things, to renew the league license system, so new teams in the SM League can be seen in the 2025–26 season at the earliest.
There is a rising boom in Mesti
Returning to the domestic puck rinks after a break of many years, Jokerit will fill the stands in Espoo as well. However, according to Kallonen, the economic significance of the Jokerit matches is by no means decisive.
– We have not counted anything critical on the Jokerit matches. We want to stick to our culture so that everyone has the opportunity to buy a ticket to our matches. We won’t ride too much under the guise of one or two matches, Kallonen stated.
The Jokerit has spoken to the Finnish hockey fans throughout the fall. The visits of Helsinki residents are eagerly awaited in the provinces.
– Yes, you can clearly see it in all localities that there is a new drive. I claim that Mestis is the most interesting sports series in Finland in many respects this season, Kallonen said.
However, Kallonen continues right away that Mestis’ boom is behind a lot of meritorious work.
– Interest has awakened in a new way. I don’t see that everything is the merit of a single actor (Jokerit), but it is a question of a bigger whole, Kallonen pointed out.
The Jokers have had a special season in many ways
Jokerit plays 11 of its regular season home games in the Nordenskiöldinkatu hall and 13 games in the Kerava ice hall. The first can accommodate more than 8,000 spectators. Instead, Kerava’s hall can hold around 1,100–1,200 spectators, says the defensive legend, who started as Jokeri’s CEO at the beginning of the summer Antti-Jussi Niemi.
The assumption is that Kerava’s hall will be filled to capacity. However, Jokerit does not get as many viewers as it had hoped. Chairman of the Jokers Mikko Saarni evaluate in the summer For MTV Sportsthat Kerava’s hall can hold around 1,500 spectators, but that would also be less than originally hoped.
According to Saarni, the original wish was that 1,500 spectators could sit, and 300–400 standing.
Now the capacity is falling from that estimate as well. Niemi says that there are permits for standing room for 240 spectators, but initially Jokerit does not plan to sell that many tickets, but wants to see how people can fit in their seats.
– The Nordis clearly invests more in match events. We aim for 4,000 people to come there per game. Of course, we hope that more people would come to Nordis, and the local games against Kiekko-Espoo and Kiekko-Vantaa would raise the average.
According to Niemi, season ticket sales have been successful. More than 1,200 season tickets have been sold.
So can Kerava sell individual tickets at all?
– It is a challenge but at the same time a wealth to play in two halls. There is double work in many things. Only season tickets for Nordenskiöldinkatu and then season tickets for both halls have been on sale. It has been thought that Kerava will also have loose ticket capacity. Not all season tickets are valid at Kerava.
Kerava’s ice rink became a salvation for the Jokers, but as Niemik also admitted, it causes challenges. Jokerit has had to make changes to the hall, the costs of which it is responsible for.
Niemi says that the two practice matches played by the Jokers in Kerava were important lessons for the organization of the match event. Jokerit brings baja houses to the place to guarantee the sufficiency of toilets. In addition, the ceiling lights have been renewed and Jokerit is also responsible for the purchase of an additional stand.
– In no case has it been cheap. Considering the capacity, playing at Kerava is very expensive for us. Investments are broken down per game. We will aim for a zero result in Kerava match by match and then we will hit the Nordis games.
Jokerit has received a great reception in domestic rinks. It was seen, for example, in the Lace tournament in August.
In the SM league, Niemi, who only represented the Jokers in 11 seasons, was understandably quite excited a few hours before the opening of the Mestis season.
– I don’t know if I’m more excited than I was as a player.
Jokerit will play its first home match in Kerava on Friday, when Koovee from Tampere will be the guest.
– The atmosphere will be absolutely fantastic. After all, this is a great thing.
– Now, of course, we hope that the team will do well – that is one essential thing – but also that we can keep the interest around Mestis and Jokeri. I’m one of those excited that Jokerit is coming back. I believe that it will be a great season for Jokers, Mestis and Finnish ice hockey.