According to Hanne Pirkola, the event director of the World Floorball Championships, the goal of the tournament is a zero financial result. “The number of tickets sold is quite positive and is our most important source of revenue.”
Floorball World Championships event director Hanne Pirkola was relieved on Friday.
The races, which were postponed for a year due to the corona epidemic, began in a happy mood when Singapore and Canada faced in the opening match of the tournament at the Helsinki Ice Rink.
“It feels great after a long wait. All in all, great. ”
The World Cup floorball, like other events, has been plagued by a corona epidemic that has lasted for more than a year and a half.
The epidemic seemed to be well under control by the end of the summer, but as the Games approached, the situation began to deteriorate again.
And information about the new omicron virus variant did not add any confidence.
Pirkola’s race time has now lasted for three years, the last year and a half of which has been in uncertainty. At the same time, the resilience of difficulties has increased.
“There has been rowing and felting all the time and wondering, and once a year the races were postponed. In the autumn we were able to do the races well, of course there were small changes. ”
He says he slept restlessly as long as he got home next.
“Last night, though, the pulse was pretty high.”
World Cup The first series matches will be played at the Helsinki Ice Rink and its training hall. The tournament culminates in semi-finals and medal games from the weekend at Hartwall Arena.
A total of 48 matches are played. Pirkola is pleased that the corona pass will allow as many people as possible to enter the auditorium.
The corona epidemic has reduced the number of tour tourists, but there is little support for every team.
Even Canada and Singapore, which are among the most distant countries in the Games, seemed to have their own fans with them, Pirkola says.
However, there will be fewer big floorball tourists than usual.
“At some point, about 800 tickets had been sold to Switzerland. Larger orders have been canceled in Sweden due to the situation. Under normal circumstances, there would have been several thousand racing guests, but now the number seems to be less than a thousand. ”
The corona epidemic has also made Finnish floorball fans more cautious.
Approximately 5,000 tickets were sold for the Swedish match to be played at the Helsinki Ice Rink on Saturday. There are still tickets left for next week’s Saturday medal games at Hartwall Arena.
Pirkola estimates that the deterioration in the corona situation has clearly affected last-minute ticket sales.
“For the Swedes, the impact has been at least clear. About 70 percent have been eliminated. ”
Pirkola believes that in the Finland-Sweden match on Saturday, the Ice Rink will be full anyway.
“Fortunately, the situation for fans buying a ticket from Finland is not so critical.”
The postponement of the World Cup and the caution of the public are also reflected in the financial results of the World Cup. Before the corona epidemic, the goal of the Floorball Association was to make a victory in the competition, but now zero results are a good achievement.
“There have been some additional costs and the sale of the final weekend will have a big impact on the result. In any case, the situation could be worse, the number of tickets sold is quite positive and it is our most important source of income. “
Canada won the opening match of the World Championships with goals 9–8. Canada’s No. 1 cannon had scored four goals and two assists Valtteri Viitakoski, who plays in the F-league in the ranks of Nokian Krp.
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