This week, the Ice Hockey World Championship IB Division takes place in Vilnius after a 10-year break. The Lithuanian men’s ice hockey team is performing exceptionally well, having already won four matches and playing for gold against Ukraine this Friday. However, the stands at the Twinsbet Arena are near-empty. The organisers admit they made a miscalculation with the pricing.
More than 8,000 fans can watch hockey matches at the Vilnius Arena, but only about 2,500 people attended the matches of the Lithuanian national team.
Realising that empty stands are an embarrassment, the organisers took action and offered 1,000 tickets with a 50-percent discount for Wednesday’s match against China. To little effect.
The game with China sold more tickets than previous events – 2,592 – but only just. The match with Spain played out in front of 2,516 fans, the one with Estonians was watched by 2,545, and the Netherlands attracted 2,413 spectators.
Ticket prices range from 20 to 70 euros. The best seats start at 30.
Fans interviewed by LRT TV say they find tickets expensive: “For such an unpopular sport and if you want to attract more people, maybe it is a bit expensive. Maybe it would be sensible to make it a bit cheaper.”
Others also complained that if an entire family wants to spend an evening watching hockey live, the bill adds up. “It could be a little cheaper, at least for children,” says a fan.
Remigijus Valickas, the head of the Organising Committee of the Championships, admits that mistakes have been made.
“We may have miscalculated with the pricing, but we take responsibility as organisers. I’m very hopeful that the victories will entice more people to come,” he says.
“The same thing happened in 2014 in Vilnius and 2018 in Kaunas. With each victory, the crowd grew bigger and bigger,” he adds.
According to Valickas, the most expensive tickets actually sell better.
“We hope that in the decisive match against Ukraine, the stands will be full. They were also full when we played Croatia for silver in 2014,” he says.
The organisers have also received complaints about the ice in the arena, both from Lithuanian players and their opponents. Paulius Gintautas, a hockey player, remarked after the victory against the Netherlands: “We are playing in a puddle.”
Valickas admits that getting the ice right is the biggest challenge, but that is the downside of a multi-purpose arena.
“The ice was last changed 10 years ago. Therefore, it is a huge challenge to get a good quality ice surface. This is also recognised by our colleagues from the International Ice Hockey Federation, who regularly organise such championships. Multi-purpose arenas always have this problem. We have help from specialists from Latvia, Finland, and other countries,” he said.
Despite the setbacks, the Lithuanian hockey team is confidently picking up victories in the championship and is preparing for the match with Ukraine. Although the Ukrainians are considered the favourites, World Championship Ambassador Gabrielius Liaudanskas-Svaras believes the Lithuanian team can win gold at home.
“I know it will be a very tough match against the Ukrainians. They are very strong. But with our will, determination, courage, willingness, the support from our stands, we can definitely take the gold,” he said.
The decisive match against Ukraine will take place on Friday at 19:30. It will be broadcast live on LRT PLIUS and LRT.lt.
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