WC: 2023 IIHF Worlds Attendance

[vorky]

Attendance summary after 20 games.

Riga Arena with capacity of 10 300 seats, average attendance 5482 fans, five games with attendance under 4000 fans. Norway vs Kazakhstan with lowest attendance (2870).

Nokia Arena with capacity of 13 300 seats, average attendance 8400 fans,

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[ViD]

How does it compare to other tournaments?

 

[vorky]

How does it compare to other tournaments?

Since 2010 just two tournaments (2013 & 2016) were under 7000 fans on average. Of course, if not counting COVID years & 2022 when it was 5577 on average.

 

[Faterson]

There were reports about tickets being severely overpriced, about boycotts from local Latvian fans because of the pricing, etc.

I'm certain that if the tickets were priced reasonably, most or all games would be sold out.

(The tickets were overpriced when the World Championships were last held in Slovakia, too, so I can't imagine how overpriced they must be now, in the current environment.)

 

[BlizzardSloth]

There were reports about tickets being severely overpriced, about boycotts from local Latvian fans because of the pricing, etc.

I'm certain that if the tickets were priced reasonably, most or all games would be sold out.

(The tickets were overpriced when the World Championships were last held in Slovakia, too, so I can't imagine how overpriced they must be now, in the current environment.)

I should've made a screenshot of the prices when I checked day tickets in Riga some months ago. I was quite shocked by the pricing as it was quite close to what I've paid for my tickets in Switzerland for the (cancelled) 2020 worlds.

 

[stv11]

I got some day packages in Riga for around 100€ a game. A quick google search says that the average monthly salary in Latvia is just above 1000€.

Whether these data are accurate or not, these prices are absolutely ridiculous. Events like this should be accessible to locals.

 

[Faterson]

I got some day packages in Riga for around 100€ a game. A quick google search says that the average monthly salary in Latvia is just above 1000€.

Whether these data are accurate or not, these prices are absolutely ridiculous. Events like this should be accessible to locals.

I assure you that the data are accurate. Latvia is a post-Communist country just like Slovakia, and 1000 euros/dollars would be the typical monthly income of a regular person.

Of course you're not gonna sacrifice one tenth of your monthly income to watch a random goddamn hockey game. (Least of all one contested by foreign teams.)

 

[paul-laus]

I don’t have too much of an opinion on the pricing scale for tickets but just out of curiosity, what do the individuals posting in this thread think is a reasonable price for a game like Finland-Sweden or Latvia-Czechia?

 

[Playmaker82]

Im going to 5 games in Riga next week.

29 eur-89 eur prices, where 29 euro is the cheapest tickets. Latvia & Switzerland games has the highest prices.

 

[Faterson]

I don’t have too much of an opinion on the pricing scale for tickets but just out of curiosity, what do the individuals posting in this thread think is a reasonable price for a game like Finland-Sweden or Latvia-Czechia?

I think around 20 – 30 euros might be considered affordable by regular persons in post-Communist Europe.

But for a game like France versus Kazakhstan, or other such games that no one really cares about, the price would need to drop to 10 euros or so, for regular people to show interest in buying them, and perhaps even that is too much.

That's why day tickets make a lot of sense: folks buy tickets for games that really interest them, and may just as well watch the less important games if they already have the ticket.

But if the day ticket price is prohibitive and can only be afforded by the wealthy, it's hopeless.

 

[Chainshot]

There were reports about tickets being severely overpriced, about boycotts from local Latvian fans because of the pricing, etc.

I'm certain that if the tickets were priced reasonably, most or all games would be sold out.

(The tickets were overpriced when the World Championships were last held in Slovakia, too, so I can't imagine how overpriced they must be now, in the current environment.)

The pricing issue reminds me of comments about some of the U20 tournaments in recent years. The gouging of the fans is getting in the way of people attending.

 

[ForumNamePending]

Given all the turmoil in the world over the past 3+ years I don't think folks should be particularly surprised if attendance is down from where it was a few years ago.

Attendance for the WC seems to have a pretty wide variance anyway depending on the location/venues...

Current Year
2023: Finland/Latvia - 6651 (through 22 games)

Last 5 before COVID/War
2019: Slovakia - 7,357
2018: Denmark - 8,133
2017: Germany/France - 10,725
2016: Russia - 6,522
2015: Czech - 11,589

Last time Finland or Latvia (co) hosted before COVID/War:
2013: Finland/Sweden - 6685
2006: Latvia - 5,800

To be honest, outside of the pricing already being discussed, I'm not sure there is a whole lot to talk about here.

 

[GX]

In Riga, the EUR 135 ticket price is reasonable for the lower bowl, both for Latvian and key foreign games, as they are largely sold out.

The problem is majority of upper bowl seats cost the same, with worst sectors at EUR 89. Amount of foreign fans and/or local demand just isn't deep enough to justify such a price point.

For less busy games, they've put EUR 89 as the main fee. No Latvian will pay such money to watch KAZ-SLO, or even CZE-SLO. EUR 30-50 would have helped to fill upper bowl.

(EUR 29 is a marketing gimmick, as it only applied to ~100-200 seats)

 

[Czechboy]

Given all the turmoil in the world over the past 3+ years I don't think folks should be particularly surprised if attendance is down from where it was a few years ago.

Attendance for the WC seems to have a pretty wide variance anyway depending on the location/venues...

Current Year
2023: Finland/Latvia - 6651 (through 22 games)

Last 5 before COVID/War
2019: Slovakia - 7,357
2018: Denmark - 8,133
2017: Germany/France - 10,725
2016: Russia - 6,522
2015: Czech - 11,589

Last time Finland or Latvia (co) hosted before COVID/War:
2013: Finland/Sweden - 6685
2006: Latvia - 5,800

To be honest, outside of the pricing already being discussed, I'm not sure there is a whole lot to talk about here.

My gut says attendance will be up next year! Curious if Czech tickets are less expensive?

 

[Albatros]

Especially if Hungary stays up there'll be significantly more traveling fans from the lesser countries next year. Kazakhstan, Slovenia, Austria are all below Poland and Great Britain in that regard.

 

[ozo]

My gut says attendance will be up next year! Curious if Czech tickets are less expensive?

Yeah, being at the center of Europe is somewhat helpful too and Prague/Czech Republic offers plenty more to visitors than Riga.

 

[Czechboy]

Yeah, being at the center of Europe is somewhat helpful too and Prague/Czech Republic offers plenty more to visitors than Riga.

Very true.. neighbours include Slovakia and Germany. I like to think it's our beautiful woman and inexpensive beer.lol

 

[ellja3]

Yeah, the ticket prices are high.

When they released pricing, me and my hockey buddy thought it's some sort of a joke. I'll attend LV-SUI for 89EUR in upper bowl, but spending more on tickets just to see another (two?) round robin game? In something that is far, far from best-on-best? Nah. My salary is considerably higher than the avg mentioned above, so I could afford more, but, honestly, if it's between this and 200EUR ticket for NHL Global Series in Stockholm this November, I'd rather make a nice one-day trip to SWE (flights are cheap if bought early) than attend extra 2-3 games here; with limited star lineup. LV-SUI was also my choice as it can be a decider, instead of, say, LV-NOR yesterday.

Now IF Latvia makes quarterfinals, I'll be the first to jump on 130EUR QF ticket, but that's a different story entirely.

And yes, in general I am struggling to accept new reality of live sport pricing in Europe. It's coming in doses of not so small shocks and started with Tampere Global Series last year, and continues with Riga Worlds this year and my plan to attend F1 this year in Zandvoort. It's just loco when you think about it.

Edit: also attending CZE-CAN, but for 29EUR and their lineups it's not so unreasonable.

 

[Urbanskog]

There's not much of a story here. Tournaments organized by Finland tend to have relatively low attendance in general due to pricing and even then it's already increased from last year. These threads appear to be started mainly by Russia sycophants so make of that what you will.

 

[vorky]

After 32 (of 64) games, Tampere 7503 on average, Riga 4911

 

[jcbio11]

As others have mentioned in this thread, except the attendance to rebound in big way next year.

Geography plays a role here and both Finland and Latvia are kind of remote. Being able to drive easily to these things is a big factor for EU fans.

 

[GX]

The number of foreign fans in Riga 2023, compared to Riga 2006, though, is really high - back then only Swedes and Finns were here in thousands. This year the CZE-SVK opener had an attendance of 7500, 90% of which were their fans. Today there were easily 2000-3000 Swiss fans at SUI-SVK. Weekend breaks work well for fans to catch 3 games, it seems.

 

[EK47]

My gut says attendance will be up next year! Curious if Czech tickets are less expensive?

Yeah most likely Prague is close to pretty much the center of central europe aswell as being a traveldestination already. I would be surprised if the tickets aren’t more expensive.

 

[Czechboy]

Yeah most likely Prague is close to pretty much the center of central europe aswell as being a traveldestination already. I would be surprised if the tickets aren’t more expensive.

I was hoping theyd be cheaper like the beer. Feel like this tournament is losing its vibe with high ticket prices. Make them cheaper and profit from all the people showing up and buying food, lodging and booze.

 

[EK47]

I was hoping theyd be cheaper like the beer. Feel like this tournament is losing its vibe with high ticket prices. Make them cheaper and profit from all the people showing up and buying food, lodging and booze.

I would agree, make the entire tournament a party. Make it attractive make it special then you can raise the prices because people will pay for something extra. Right now it just has the stripped down Skoda vibe only the Sweden Finland game felt like the normal worlds out of Swedens games.