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How Can Sweden Afford To Pay The Top Riders


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CLUB culture in Sweden counts for so much. So many volunteers help to keep staff costs down, local sponsorship helps pay the riders along with gate revenue which is a lot better than in the UK.

 

Crowds look terrible on TV, certainly no larger than the better supported EL clubs?

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attendances in 2013 Elitserien:

 

-----------------average---tot

Ikaros Smederna 3,808 ---34,270

Dackarna 3,596--- 28,771

Indianerna 3,517--- 28,139

Piraterna 3,262--- 29,360

Elit Vetlanda 3,162--- 31,620

Västervik 2,590 ---20,717

Hammarby 1,934--- 13,539

Vargarna 1,738--- 12,165

 

and for 2014 to date:

 

 

-----------------average---tot

Rospiggarna--- 3,211--- 16,056

Elit Vetlanda-- 2,886--- 14,432

Ikaros Smederna-- 2,785--- 13,925

Indianerna--- 2,643--- 13,217

Piraterna--- 2,612--- 7,835

Dackarna--- 2,591--- 10,362

Västervik--- 1,954--- 11,726

Vargarna--- 1,681--- 10,086

 

Some very large falls (although some may be reduced by higher crowds for play-offs once they are factored in*) - so maybe they won't be able to afford to field teams of the current strengths for much longer

 

* This can be quite significant Smederna's average crowd last year excluding play-offs was a 'mere' 3,029

Edited by arnieg
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Even those early-season 2014 crowd figures show that all 8 sides are still comfortably averaging over 1,500 with the prospect of any last-day regular-season qualifying-deciders and then the play-offs themselves boosting those figures a bit further.

 

Back in our Elite League, how many teams are struggling to even break the 1,000 barrier ? !!

 

Birmingham were certainly well short ... of the remaining 9, how many of Lakeside, Swindon, Eastbourne or Belle Vue are averaging 1,000 ? ... surely none of them are anywhere near Vargarna's current 1,681 !!

 

Remember that's an average of 1,681 so you're probably looking at being guaranteed at least 1,300 turning up on a rain-threatened evening against low-key opposition while making the most of 2,000 enjoying a glorious evening against superstar visitors.

 

I'd reckon that leaves only 5 of our Elite clubs in with a fair chance of drawing crowds to match the smallest Swedish-Elit average.

 

Over to any Coventry, King's Lynn, Leicester, Poole or Wolves fans for your realistic assessments of where your club's current crowds would fit into those mid-season Swedish stats ... is your team at least matching Vargarna's 1,681 or, better still, within reach of that middle-order pack of Swedish clubs just above 2,500 ?

 

By the way, Vargarna's admission prices are as follows (£1 = 11.7 Swedish kroner) so they're charging a little beneath our Elite prices rather than inflating their crowd-figures with dirt-cheap tickets ... adults 170 (£14.50) ... seniors 120 (£10.25) ... children up to 15-year-olds 50 (£4.25) ... under-12's free.

Edited by arthur cross
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Arthur You are underestimating the crowds at Lakeside. I would say they are one of the safest clubs as long as Arena Essex remains available to them.

Crowds look terrible on TV, certainly no larger than the better supported EL clubs?

Not on my telly they don't Edited by westhamboy66
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I think it's primarily that rents are lower/non-existent. I think most clubs are leased land by their local communities at a peppercorn rent, and the stadiums are generally fairly basic (although tidy in the Scandinavian way).

There's therefore less need to run a lot of meetings to amortise the cost, which in turn makes it more practical to cover wages from sponsorship. I'm not sure how much is made in gate money as the last time I went to a Swedish Elite League meeting, it was somewhat cheaper than an equivalent meeting in Britain. For some lower league meeting I went to, I don't remember paying anything to get in, although 'get in' was a slightly moot point for a track situated in a forest. ;)

Edited by Humphrey Appleby
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No rents to pay?

 

 

1 Community owned tracks

2 Excellent local sponsors

3 Good attendances

4 however it can go t*ts up as several tracks could testify.

 

1. Some clubs also own their own track, but those who don't usually pay rent.

Also many teams have worked hard to improve the standard of their arenas.

2. Sponsors are not necessarily local, Smederna's main sponsor is located in Malmö some 600km from Eskilstuna.

3. It varies from round to round and from track to track; http://ta.svemo.se/Public/Pages/Serie/Audience/AudienceStatistics.aspx?SerieId=590

4. Tracks does not go bust, clubs do.

Edited by Ghostwalker
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Only the top league is well supported. Look at the attendances quoted for the lower leagues - double figures!

 

The attendance average for Allsvenskan is almost 780: http://ta.svemo.se/Public/Pages/Serie/Audience/AudienceStatistics.aspx?SerieId=591

 

Div 1 have low attendances: http://ta.svemo.se/Public/Pages/Serie/Audience/AudienceStatistics.aspx?SerieId=595

but the costs are also much smaller, most of the teams in Div1 are subsidiaries of Elitserien or Allsvenskan teams and

those Div1 teams are used as both a sort of "development teams" for new 500cc riders and for those Swedish riders

who rarely gets to ride in Elitserien.

Edited by Ghostwalker
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I think i read that lakeside's crowds are averaging around the 1200 mark. Which is very good considering it is an awful place to get to with very basic facilities.

I would imagine being close to one of the worlds largest cities must help a little. Always been decent crowds when i have been to Lakeside..

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