The Champions Hockey League is in its eleventh edition this year and has developed into a very attractive competition. But financially there is still a lot of room for improvement.
24 teams will take part in the eleventh edition of the CHL and fight for the crown of European ice hockey. With the reigning champions EC Red Bull Salzburg, EC-KAC and HCB Südtirol Alperia, three clubs from the win2day ICE Hockey League also bought their tickets. For the Foxes from Bozen, the CHL season ended yesterday with a defeat in Lulea. The KAC and Salzburg are still fighting for the round of 16 and for further income.
Because compared to the Champions League of football, the “ice hockey edition” is not nearly as lucrative. There is 80,000 euros for successful qualification for the CHL group phase. “We are paying around 70,000 euros for our three away games in Denmark, Sweden and Finland this season alone. But we are also traveling to three of the four most expensive participating countries, where the accommodation and food costs are much higher than in Central Europe,” said KAC boss Oliver Pilloni to the “Crown newspaper“. RBS manager Schlögl also sees a need for improvement: “It would be desirable if the financial aspects also adapted to the sporting aspects.” Late start times specified by the TV partner ORF are also counterproductive for the attractiveness: “On a weekday, the audience costs us and thus audience revenue, which would significantly improve the CHL’s financial balance.”
The bare numbers underline how far apart the two sports are financially: 2.54 million euros are distributed in the CHL, in football it is an incredible 2.437 billion. Logically, this huge discrepancy depends on TV money, transfer fees and other economic factors.
Both Salzburg and the KAC can book their ticket for the round of 16 with a success today and thus generate additional income of 15,000 euros. The Mozartstadters welcome the Eisbären Berlin, the Red Jackets have to play against the Finnish top club KalPa Kuopio.
Image: Gintare Karpaviciute – EC Red Bull Salzburg
