The Velux EHF Champions League Final 4 2019 is over. Vardar won their second title, and they deserved it. But as good as the tournament is, and as great as it is to be there, one problem is still unsolved: presales for next year’s event. I wrote about this last year but nothing changed. So I try it again. This is my first blog post, which I write in English. So please be kind, if not everything is perfect and if my English is a little bit shaky. I’m just not used to writing in English.
The current situation
As I already wrote last year, the presale for the following year works like this. Be there very early (this means 10 a.m. at the latest) on Saturday morning. Stand there in line and wait for the gates to open at 11:30. Then start running to the ticket counter, or better: to the next line where you have to stand for the next 30, 45, 60 or more minutes. There is no guarantee that you will get the tickets you really want!
The weather is not unimportant
For the last years I never had to wait while it’s raining. That’s the good news. The bad news is that mostly the weather was that good that it was close to “Too hot!”. OK, it’s nice to get water for free, and to get umbrellas that can give you some kind of shadow. But it’s still not a great thing to wait in a line packed with hundreds of people who also want tickets.
Make no mistake!
It is clear to me that the EHF has a great advantage through this approach. First they make a lot of money one year ahead of the tournament. Over the weekend 5000 tickets were sold. With ticket prizes between 75 and more than 300 Euro I guess that’s approximately 1 Mio. Euro for the EHF. Not bad, not bad!
Also the EHF has more chances to sell tickets in the upcoming months. There will be more opportunities to buy tickets. Yes, I know this, and I know that there are always people who get their tickets in category 4 (75 Euro). But still I think there has to be a better way for presales on this special weekend. The greatest and best event of club handball worldwide deserves a better organized presale on this spectacular weekend!
Here’s my invitation to David Szlezak
David Szlezak, I invite you to join me in trying to get tickets for 2021. We can meet at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday, May 30th 2020, right in front of the entrance. I promise that we will have a lot of time to talk about the Final 4 in general, about the presale and about some other topics. Look that you have had a good breakfast, or that you bring something to eat and drink. It will take a while. After the gates open be ready to RUN! To run FAST! Otherwise you will be overtaken by dozens of other people that will have a better chance than you to get the tickets you want.
I know, David Szlezak, that you have a lot to do during the Final 4 weekend. So I also know that you won’t (and can’t) follow my invitation. But maybe you’re sending an intern who joins me and then can report to you first-hand. Or you send 10 or 15 people that can ask all the waiting fans what they think about the presale process, and how they think this can be handled better.
My suggestion
You think criticism without a suggestion would not be OK? Same here! So here’s my suggestion for presales for 2021, because for next year it’s too late to change anything.
Give everyone the possibility to become a “Season Ticket Holder”. All seats for participating teams and for sponsors, maybe some other areas, are excluded. All season ticket holders have the right of first refusal for, let’s say, four weeks after the Final 4. During this time they can say that they want their seats again, or in another area/category, or more tickets in the same or another area/category.
What to do after this period? I think you will find enough clubs that will give you an advice how to handle the process. Maybe this suggestion is not the best possibility. Maybe it’s not fair to all the people who want tickets but haven’t been at the Final 4 for different reasons. But what abut the current process? Is it fair to all the people who are at the Final 4 and have to stand in the sun for two, three or even more hours?
Will anything change?
Honestly, I very much doubt it. And I could understand the EHF very well. Why change anything when the Final 4 of the Champions League is a money jerk machine? But is money everything? Think about it: Is it really a bad idea to make the Final 4 experience even better for visitors? To spare visitors the stress of presale? All the people who gather at the entrance hours before the opening don’t have the chance to really enjoy the Saturday morning in Cologne. Give them the chance!
Hey! Last but not least, it’s the fans who make the Champions League Final 4 in Cologne something very, very special! Think about it!