According to Tuto CEO Kimmo Hollmén, the goal of the club’s sports strategy has always been to return to the highest league level at some point.
SpongeBob Forsberg,
Minna Rosvall
The league license application of Tuto Hockey from Turku, which plays in Mestis, for the season 2024–2025 surprised hockey circles on Thursday. Obtaining a SM league license requires long-term evidence of financial profitability and sporting success.
Still in December 2022 Tuto had to adjust its operations and give up the CEO because of the cash crisis. Mesti’s club last won in 2008.
CEO of Tuto Kimmo Hollménin according to the goal of the club’s sports strategy has always been to return to the highest league level at some point. Tuto last played in the SM league in 1994–1996.
– Metaphorically, I can say that if the doors of an amusement park that has been closed for ten years are opened and asked if anyone wants to come inside and play, it would be quite strange if we didn’t announce our willingness to get back up.
– There are still a lot of open questions here, but we want to be part of the discussion and bring out the fact that we want to play at the highest league level and raise the flag for competitiveness and promotion and relegation from the league.
No single owner in the background
The league clubs’ player budgets are around 2–3 million euros this season. The player budget of Tuto, who plays in Mesti, is naturally smaller, around 150,000–200,000 euros.
Hollmén reminds that SM league clubs have more sources of income than Mestis teams.
– They get more money, for example, from a TV contract, partner contracts, box office receipts or others. Of course, that’s the kind of thing that changes if you move up from Mestis to the SM league.
– We know that the sums are larger and we also have partners and owners who are ready to increase their own contribution.
CEO Hollmén says that there is no individual owner who is trying to get promoted to the league, and that the current sports strategy has been in place for years. The club’s ownership is divided between Tuto’s association and dozens of private people and companies.
Relocation or relocation?
Tuto plays its home games in the Kupittaan Ice Hall, completed in 2006, which can accommodate a maximum of 3,000 spectators. There is no media cube in the hall.
– In the licenses for the league, it seems that there must be 4,000 spectator seats and a media cube.
According to Hollmén, a place in the SM league would require either a major renovation of the current hall or a transfer to Turkuhalli, the home base of the league club TPS, as a tenant. TPS has planned a new hall on Ratapihankatu in Turku.
– The city is thinking about what will happen to Turkuhalli then. We are in the conversation. In terms of location, we are in an optimal place in Kupitta, close to the city center. In that sense, all options for playing here should be explored.
The goal is Mesti’s top
A place in the SM league requires athletic success in Mestis before submitting an application. The current season of Tuto, which won Mestishopea in 2018 and bronze in 2019, got off to a rough start when it lost six of its first seven matches.
However, the people of Turku have gotten their game going and are now on a four-game winning streak. At the end of October, Tuto has beaten league leader IPK, K-Vantaa, Imatra Ketterä and Jokerit.
– Yes, there is skill and know-how in our players and coaching. The journey upwards continues. We want to be 1-2 in Mestis this season.
According to the CEO, promotion to the league would mean a significantly larger player budget and acquisitions.
An opportunity to develop
The license committee will process the applications by the end of this year. After that, the final decision is made by the general meeting of the SM league.
The license committee can ask the applicant for further explanations and corrections to possible deficiencies by the end of February. After that, the license committee will make its decision by the end of March at the latest.
Hollmén sees the licensing process as a good opportunity to develop the club’s operations in a more professional direction.
– If we don’t get a league license at this point, at least we know where we have room to shake, because in the spring of 2025 we can rise by winning Mestis and the league qualifiers. Then the same license conditions still have to be met.
SM league license procedure: