The worrisome trend in Liiga audience numbers continued on Wednesday. At this rate, autumn is becoming gloomy in many halls, writes Iltalehti’s sports reporter Mikael Kaivanto.
Only 1,610 spectators were there to witness the 3-1 victory of the Jukurs against Luko. Mikko Lieri / AOP
In Wednesday’s league round, sad audience numbers were again proven. The worst reading was in Mikkeli, where only 1,610 spectators had bothered to follow the Jukurit–Lukko game.
Last season, even Jukurit, which was at the top of the league table, has had trouble attracting the public. Even the head coach Olli Jokinen the level rise has not been enough for fuller stands.
The audience readings for Jukurei’s three home games are 2,143, 2,018 and 1,610. Wednesday saw a drop of more than 400 viewers. On the other side was spring Finnish champion Lukko. The audience capacity of the hall is 4,200.
In the six games of the league round, only two locations broke the threshold of 3,000 spectators. Tapparanki’s attendance of 4,104 against HPK was weak compared to the city’s population and the capacity of the Nokia Arena.
Dark Wednesday night is not the best marketable, but the interest of the new season is not in any way visible audience numbers. After all, the new season has already been played for a week.
Continuing at this pace, there will be a gap in many league stands when the most serene stages of the season come in the dark of autumn.