Basketball league the new great club Helsinki Seagulls has a problem that directly affects the club's future.
The reigning Finnish champion is stuck playing his matches in the legendary and antique Kisahalli of Töölö.
“Kisis” is an obstacle to the Seagulls' growth and running a top-level professional club. The arena can only hold 1,300 spectators. There are a thousand of these seats and the rest are standing seats.
The Seagulls have sold out four of the season's nine home games this season, down to the last standing place.
The new home arena is a lifeline for the flagship of basketball in Helsinki, says Janne Kulvik. He is the main owner of Seagulls together with his wife Sinikka Kulvik too with.
“We go one season at a time, but not incredibly many, if nothing happens,” says Janne Kulvik.
Race hall the small size hinders the growth of Seagulls in the form of an otherwise small box office.
In Seagulls' matches, sport is really at the center, as the public service facilities in Kisahalli are rudimentary by today's standards. There are no restaurant facilities, and not really sales points either.
It is difficult to build a grandiose event in the race hall or to make money with side sales, even if every seat is full.
Helsinki Kisahalli was full to the last seat in the meeting between Seagulls and Karhubasket on December 30.
The Seagulls have the same problem as Helsinki IFK, which plays in its neighbor's Nordenskiöldinkatu Ice Hall: the walls have gotten in the way of growth.
HIFK has six sold-out (8,200) home games in the hockey league this season. In all the others, the number of spectators has risen to more than 7,000 people.
How HIFK and Seagulls are linked?
The Seagulls' new basketball arena depends on the success of the arena project Garden Helsinki led by HIFK.
When IFK would move to the Garden's shelters and the Gulls would start holding their home matches in the renovated Nordis ice hall, which would be renovated into an indoor sports arena.
Basketball, gymnastics, cheerleading and a dozen other sports could get into bigger facilities. The city of Helsinki is also waiting for the plan built around the Garden to come to fruition.
The city has no other vision for improving the conditions of indoor ball sports.
The B-hall of Töölö Kisahalli, which serves as the Seagulls' home field, was completed in 1950. It has served as a stage for the Helsinki Olympics and a concert venue, among other things.
Kulviks have financed Garden's development company Projekti GH Oy. They get to watch the development of the Garden project from the ground floor – and it certainly doesn't make them happy.
Sinikka Kulvik says directly that Garden is progressing, but painfully slowly.
“Before the elections, politicians sat in our games. They said at the time that we would quickly pass through Garden”, says Sinikka Kulvik with a slight irony in her voice.
According to Kulvikie, Seagulls has reached the limits of growth in Kisahalli.
The couple finances a significant part of the club's budget. It means a loss for each season of around 300,000–400,000 euros.
The public service facilities of the Töölö Kisahalli are inadequate.
Sami Hedberg is one of the owners of Helsinki Seagulls.
Even less starting to run out of patience.
The Kulviks have been running Seagulls for ten years. Last spring was the first Finnish championship.
“The basketball association rewarded us with the maximum fine for the championship. It just came from the mailbox,” says Janne Kulvik with bitter amusement.
The fine came because the Gulls did not participate in international games this season.
There was a clear reason for rejecting internationalism: there is no arena in which to play.
“It opened the eyes to the fact that we are just stuck in place.”
The Seagulls' main opponent, Karhubasket from Kauhajoki, plays in a brand new arena that attracts 2,400 spectators and offers a thousand restaurant seats.
The Kulviks do not say directly that they would throw the gloves on the counter. Between the lines, you can sense that this long wait will no longer be tolerated.
Read more: Petri Suokas started building a cool 10 million euro arena on a plot of land – “They probably thought I'd gone crazy”
Read more: Janne and Sinikka Kulvik are the Harkimots of basketball – the Seagulls office is in the same apartment as the family fund: “Payment of wages is a sacred thing for us”
Helsinki Seagulls' seagull mascot entertained the audience in the match against Karhubasket.
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