The pre-sale had only just begun, because the EHC Red Bull München via Twitter announced: no more, the great game against the sister club in Salzburg is sold out. Could surprise the less, a semi-final in the Champions League, finally, is not an everyday game. Even if it is the first of the club’s history; Yes if it is the first German club to have ever reached the semi-final round of the European Royal class. But this first leg, which is due this Tuesday (19.30 clock/live on Sport1), is a special case: firstly, the Munich hard to do, even after three German Championships in the series, to fill their small hall in the Olympic Park (just under 6100 seats), and, secondly, it comes to hockey. Because of the European Cup is traditionally a difficult matter.
In the course of the years, it has many models. The national Champions met for a long weekend at a place, time, the tournament was stretched over a number of months, in between there was a Cup sometimes for years, no Europe. Until someone came up with a new idea. Permanently something has never worked. The newest model, the 2014 founded Champions Hockey League (CHL), is far from being a well-established competition.
Since you can’t qualify on money, but merely sporty, has increased the level of CHL, but also in its fifth season, features an unsightly mixture: a handful of spectators, hardly any headlines, hardly any revenue. During the Champions League brings in other sports, the fame and the money that is in football for many of the participants in a loss of business.
“you have bad luck at the draw and must be far to the North, you can refinance the travel,” says a Manager from the German hockey League. “It would be wrong to say that any loss of power,” CHL CEO Martin Baumann – refers to the new form of travel grants and the increases in the prize money. This season has just paid two million euros. In basketball there are around 3.5 million. In football, the inaugural is money alone eight digits. Pro Club.
Little radiance
The biggest Problem, however, is that the CHL has little to offer big names. The heart of hockey hits North America. The biggest clubs are always in the National Hockey League (NHL), the League of millions of stars. Your name is familiar to every hockey fan, jerseys are even in German ice rinks everywhere. But who is in the Czech Republic top scorer? Who is in Sweden? Know only absolute experts.
According to bit of beam power have names like JYP Jyväskylä. The current Champions League winners, the Finnish province can’t even spell die-hard hockey fans.
NHL remains the measure of all things
it’s Different for Russian Teams. CSKA Moscow or SKA St. Petersburg are two of the few European club names, the concerns beyond their borders and bright eyes. But the Russians aren’t playing. “Who cares about the Champions League?”, Alexander Medvedev, a member of the Board of the Continental Hockey League (KHL). He’s not saying, of course, for no reason. The Russian-dominated Multi-nation League in Eastern Europe went, once, to make the NHL take the leading position in world hockey in dispute. Should succeed this by itself is a kind of Champions League, a reservoir for top teams from big cities with the Stars from Northern and Eastern Europe. Because of this it has the word continental in the name.
