Next year, the Czech Republic is organizing a number of sporting events, the biggest of which is the world hockey championship, which will be hosted by Prague and Ostrava. “It would be a significant intervention in the budget of the entire event. However, there is no point in commenting on this, as long as it is only a proposal that the government has not yet submitted to the Chamber of Deputies. We have different ticketing strategies, but it will only start in the fall, and the price level of the tickets will only be determined. The government’s intention with VAT will definitely be reflected in it,” said Vladimír Šafařík, general secretary of the 2024 WC hockey organizing committee.
Biathletes also organize a world championship on Czech territory, and the interest of fans in participating directly in Nové Město na Moravá is widely known. “We would probably have to transfer more percent to the state budget, but I wouldn’t make such a science out of it. Maybe others don’t see it that way, but it’s clear that funds have to be brought into the budget, and from my point of view, the leisure things are offered,” explains Jiří Hamza, head of the organizing committee of the 2024 World Championships in biathlon.
“We can’t just want to take. It doesn’t make anyone happy, but it sounds logical that the missing money will be sought by increasing the price of the ticket rather than continuing to raise the price of food. We know that the World Cup can be fundamentally affected by the change in VAT. I don’t think that this would be reflected in the price level of the tickets that will go on sale in the first week of May,” adds Hamza.
Football is afraid of the loss of fans
What about the most popular sport and its home scene? For example, there would be a problem for the football team Slovácko. “We planned to raise the prices of tickets and season tickets for the next season by almost a quarter, but if there really is an increase in VAT, it would unfortunately be even more in the future. Which, of course, will be a problem for some of our fans,” the executive director of the Uhersko-Hradišť club, Petr Pojezný, realizes. “The government is definitely not spoiling sport, it already puts half as much money into it as compared to culture. After some time, only enthusiasts will remain with the sport,” he marvels.
“We recorded the information, but it’s still a long way off. If this happens, we will have to react to the change, and most likely the increase would be reflected in the price of tickets, the only question is in what amount,” said Martin Bergman, the press spokesman of football club Jablonec.
Karviná, striving to return to the top domestic competition, is also not enthusiastic. “Unfortunately, this is not good news in these difficult times. It can also lead to a decrease in fans, which none of us wants,” explained Adam Januszek, spokesman for football Karviná.
Hockey would take another hit
Ice hockey was most significantly affected by the recent increase in energy prices, which fans have already felt. An increase in ticket prices would be another blow to them. “If an increase in the VAT rate for tickets to sports events is approved, we will be forced to respond to it. However, this change will not affect the setting of price categories for the sale of permanent tickets for the new season, the levels of which are decided at this time,” said the sales and marketing director of the Bílý Tygrů Liberec Dominik Jakubec.
“As far as I know, so far this is only a proposal by the Minister of Finance, which will still be discussed by the government. However, it would not be pleasant for sports clubs and, above all, spectators, at a time of increasing costs,” said Marek Chmiel, executive director of the Třinec hockey Steelers.
“If the government were to actually increase the VAT on tickets to sports matches, it would have a negative impact on the fans, as we would probably have to respond by increasing ticket prices. We count on this in the budget and we cannot afford a possible drop in this direction. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself, it’s one of the possible solutions. We will also deal with this within the APK. We’ll see what we can agree on,” said HC Olomouc marketing manager Simon Vejtasa.
The sports environment will fall into misery
Sport as such has already had financial problems in the Czech Republic since the start of the covid pandemic, every other anomaly works against the effort to calm down and straighten the conditions.
“It’s not a good idea. Every organizer of the event has a budget, and most of the income comes from ticket sales,” says Pavol Neruda, co-founder of the Oktagon series in MMA combat sports. “If he were to lose eleven percent of the revenue now, it will logically be reflected in the price of tickets, the increase of which will affect ordinary people. They will buy fewer tickets, so it will be a blow to everyone.”
According to Neruda, there is still an important aspect of employment in individual regions. “Each of our tournaments employs around three to four hundred people, which supports the economy in the given location, and to complain to the organizers about the conditions by increasing the value-added tax on tickets is, in my opinion, a step against a good business environment,” he thinks.
“At a time when every sports manager can see that the government’s priority is not sport, an increase in VAT on tickets for sports matches would mean another shift to the economic misery of individual clubs. Of course, there are sports sectors, such as football and hockey, which will be affected significantly more than us. After all, so many people don’t go to the stadiums for volleyball,” declared Jiří Zemánek, the head of the VK UP Olomouc women’s volleyball team.
