Who cares how the Women’s League teams are doing? The question is provocative, but also appropriate. According to the teams’ own estimates, the average audience for home matches is around 60–80 spectators. Only Oulu’s Kärpät and KalPa exceed the threshold of 100 spectators on average. You can also watch their matches comfortably in the galleries of the warm league hall.
Kiekko-Espoo (formerly Blues), the reigning champion and who dominated the series throughout the 2000s, plays its home matches in Tapiola’s training hall, which can accommodate a maximum of 460 spectators. The silver team HIFK will perform in the new 550-seat ice rink in Pirkkola.
When the teams from the capital region fought for the Finnish championship last spring, the penultimate final match in Pirkkola was watched by 483 spectators and the decisive final match in Tapiola by 450 spectators. So neither match was sold out.
In Sweden last spring, a new audience record was seen at the women’s major league level: 7,765 spectators followed on the spot in Gävle,
when Lulaja beat Brynäs and won the Swedish championship (you switch to another service).
Multiple budgets in Sweden
HIFK and HPK, which operate under the men’s league teams, also have the largest budgets in the Women’s League: HIFK has 150,000 euros and HPK has 146,500 euros. Luka has the smallest budget in the Women’s League, 85,000 euros.
The budgets are not directly comparable because their structure varies. However, the numbers below are indicative.
The teams’ biggest sources of income vary, but partners and player fees become the most important sources of income for many. According to the survey, trips to away games with possible accommodations and ice fees are the biggest expenses.
For comparison, Sweden’s smallest SDHL teams have a budget of around 100,000 euros. SHDL’s commercial manager Anceliga Lindeberg’s according to the biggest clubs ran an annual budget of around 600,000 euros last season. It corresponds to the budget of the middle caste Mestis team in Finland.
Money attracts abroad
Playing at the Swedish premier league level is practically free. In the biggest clubs, players are even paid a small salary. According to a 2020 report by Sweden’s largest trade union, Unionen, https://www.unionen.se/presstelläde/3275168, the average salary of a female ice hockey player is around 550 euros per month. The survey also reveals that 40 percent of players do not receive regular compensation for their playing.
The same report also shows that the average salary of a male ice hockey player playing in the SHL was around 12,090 euros per month. This raised a small storm in the public eye and the star of the national team playing in Lulea Ronja Savolainen upset about the big salary difference (you are moving to another service) between women and men.
However, for the majority of players in Finland, women’s hockey at the major league level is still an expensive hobby.
In eight out of ten teams in the Women’s League, a player pays monthly or seasonal fees, totaling approximately 585–2,900 euros per season. In the majority of troops, everyone pays the same, but there are exceptions. For example, in RoK, everyone pays the same basic fee of 1,000 euros and after that according to the number of games played. At KalPa, long-distance travelers pay half. There, some players also get help with payments through the Next Generation program, and players can also have personal sponsors.
Team Kuortanee’s season fee also includes meals at the sports college.
Of course, money doesn’t solve all problems. Thanks to its good conditions, SDHL has already attracted national team-level players from Finland and other parts of Europe for years, and the Swedish players have been deprived of responsibility and playing time. The expulsion of Swedish women from the World Cup 2019 also awakened SDHL to action and since last season a rule was introduced (you switch to another service), according to which the team must have 6–9 of its own graduates. This season, the number was increased by one.
A common organization brings benefits
According to Urheilu’s report, it seems that belonging to the organization of the men’s league team brings clear advantages to both the team and the players and background staff.
Thanks to the support of partners and the parent club, players do not need to be charged monthly or seasonal fees. In addition, players are offered better equipment contracts, and there is no need to worry about expensive rackets breaking, at least in HIFK.
TPS, Kärpät and KalPa are not part of the men’s league organization, but the cooperation is close. In the case of TPS, the women’s team receives financial help in exchange for, for example, janitor work. Kärpät and KalPa offer, for example, league halls for use by women and the opportunity to market women’s games in men’s matches without separate compensation. The men’s league teams will also receive, for example, lottery prizes.
There have been discussions in Kuopio about joining the women’s team as part of the men’s league team, but the matter has not yet progressed to a decision.
– However, the hope is that this would happen, says KalPa Women’s GM Jukka Koskinen.
Four clubs (Kiekko-Espoo, Ilves, RoKi, Team Kuortane) state that there is no actual cooperation with the men’s league or Mestis club, or that the cooperation is very little. Team Kuortanee’s position is also different in this case, because it is the Ice Hockey Association’s coaching center team, which was established after the Vancouver Olympics.
In Sweden, the situation is the opposite. There, eight out of ten women’s major league teams belong to the same organization as the men’s SHL or Hockeyallsvenskan team. Only SDE and Göteborg HC operate as independent teams.
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