Infographic as of November 13, 2024. Authors: Petra Philippsen
Image: Imago | kolbert press
The Pinguins from Bremerhaven have one foot in the quarter-finals of the premier ice hockey league. Sounds good. But unlike in football, the clubs here pay almost more.
On Tuesday evening the Bremerhaven ice arena was once again upside down. The Fischtown Pinguins swept the Swedish champions Skelleftea AIK off the ice with a furious 5-0 win. This round of 16 first leg of the Champions Hockey League couldn’t have gone much better for the Pinguins.
The premier class is visiting Bremerhaven – that sounds like the big stage in small Bremerhaven. And above all, it sounds like there is a lot of prize money. But the ice hockey world is still light years behind professional football, because for the Fischtown Pinguins the Champions Hockey League is not a million-dollar business – the prize money is so meager that many clubs pay extra for it.
In hockey it is not yet the same as in football. I hope we get there eventually. There’s no way to earn that much money, but it’s not a subsidy business for us either. Because we have very good spectator numbers, we can already cover the costs of the CHL.
Penguins managing director Hauke Hasselbrink at buten and within
The Champions League prize money for ice hockey and football in comparison:
| Round | Eishockey | football |
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High travel costs, high stress
The costs in ice hockey are usually much higher than the income. The Penguins also have to travel to northern Sweden next Tuesday for the second leg with the entire entourage. “The flights are of course the most expensive thing of all,” said Pinguins managing director Hauke Hasselbrink at buten un binnen. For the second time in the CHL competition they have to go to northern Sweden. “It’s not that pleasant,” adds Hasselbrink, because taking the bus is not an option on this route.
And the burden on the players, who have to play two games in the DEL again at the weekend, is enormous anyway. “I have to think about the players and make their travel as pleasant as possible. I can’t look at the last 10,000 euros.”
“We’ll take a little extra with us”
The fact that he doesn’t have to is due to the good number of spectators that Bremerhaven had again last season. The Penguins basically finance their participation in the premier class with their loyal fans. In the round of 16, 3,847 fans came to the ice arena.
“80 percent occupancy on a Tuesday evening, you would like to have numbers like that elsewhere,” emphasized Hasselbrink: “We will take a small plus from the CHL.” But a small plus is not warm rain, which they could really use in Bremerhaven. Not to mention the insane amounts of prize money in football. A total of over two billion euros will be distributed there.
“Something special for the city and the club”
The ice hockey world is completely different. “The Champions Hockey League is a big challenge for us, especially organizationally,” explained manager Sebastian Furchner at buten un binnen: “This is only possible with a lot of volunteers. But we don’t really want to make a big statement economically. We’re just proud on what we have achieved.”
You can only get into the premier class with passion and equity and the Fischtown Pinguins will probably still be there in the quarter-finals. And joy still prevails. “It is something very special for the city and for the club,” said Furchner: “We are pleased that we can represent our city internationally like this.” But the joy would probably be even greater with at least a little more prize money.
More about ice hockey:
Those: buten un inside.
This topic in the program:
Sportblitz, November 13, 2024, 6:06 p.m
