Βy Dionysis Aravantinos/ info@eurohoops.net
The EuroBasket group phase used the format which was tested in 2015. It proved more than successful in terms of tickets sold and attendance until the round of 16.
The four different groups were playing in four different countries in Europe which were hosting each group. Group A was hosted by Finland, group B by Israel, group C by Romania and finally group D by Turkey. In these games, in the group stage, the home fans boosted the ticket sales, as their home team was playing every day. Both in Romania and Finland, all time record attendance was registered in their respected national teams’ games.
The Round of 16 until the final game is hosted by Turkey, in Istanbul at the Sinan Erdem Dome. The tickets sold, however, have been underperforming in the eight games played so far. The Sinan Erdem Dome can seat 16,000 people in the arena. Even if you keep 1.000-2.000 seats for the media staff, journalists, photographers covering the games, the bigger picture is really bad. These are the attendance numbers in each game of the round of 16.
Saturday 9th September:
G1) Slovenia vs. Ukraine: 730
G2) Germany vs. France: 1.060
G3) Finland vs. Italy: 1.411
G4) Lithuania vs. Greece: 2.144
TOTAL: 5,345
Sunday 10th September:
G1) Latvia vs. Montenegro: 718
G2) Serbia vs. Hungary: 1.190
G3) Spain vs. Turkey: 9.934
G4) Croatia vs. Russia: 10.153
TOTAL: 21,995
The tickets sold during the round of 16 in Turkey, shows how big this issue can be. Only Sunday’s last two games attracted people to the gym. Turkey’s game vs. Spain which was a really important game for the Turks attracted a lot of people who bought tickets and also boosted the attendance in Russia vs. Croatia game, which began after the Turkish game. Those two games could actually be the last with a ‘packed’ house and despite the fact that 10.153 spectators were registered for the second game, this has to do more with the fact that the ticket sold included both games of the night. Most of the fans have left the gym before the end of the second game.
Turkey is eliminated from the EuroBasket and the organizers will have to find ways to bring fans to Istanbul to enjoy this tournament and support the national teams and players, or else we could have one of the worst ticket-selling EuroBaskets in the history. The economic reasons are one factor that can come into play. Even if nearby countries like Slovenia, Serbia, Italy, and Greece reach the semifinals, it’s highly doubtful that big numbers of fans will travel to Istanbul in order to support their national teams. The other reason will be, starting from the quarter-finals Turkey’s absence from the EuroBasket.
Either way, this is something that needs to change the next couple of days.
(Photo credit: FIBA.basketball)