Crown: No Spengler Cup – HCD loses over two million

Over the course of the 1980s, and especially since its resurgence in 1993, the Spengler Cup has become the “money machine” for the HCD through professional marketing. HCD President Gaudenz Domenig says: “Without the Spengler Cup, in the best of cases we would be where Ambri, Langnau or Rapperswil-Jona are today. Without this occasion, we would have to structure our club in a completely different way. “

Without the tournament, the HCD would be a high alpine Langnau at best. The fate of EHC Arosa shows that since the introduction of the playoffs (1986) and the associated professionalisation of hockey, it is no longer possible to fund a top-tier team in a remote location like Davos or Arosa: audience revenues are due to Long and often arduous trips to get there in winter are too short. Only the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers had fewer viewers per game in qualifying in recent years. Bringing players to Davos is more difficult (and more expensive) than attracting players to Rapperswil-Jona, given the exposed geographic location.

Only the Spengler Cup allows Davos to fund a superior team. Only thanks to the Spengler Cup is it the competitive HCD in the 21st century and the only high mountain team in Europe that can win the national championship. Arosa had no Spengler Cup or “money making machine.” In the spring of 1986, for financial reasons, he was voluntarily relegated from the NLA to the First Division. Arosa still plays today in the top amateur league. In 1985, Arosa finished second behind Davos in the championship.

Some figures explain the economic importance of the tournament. How much does the Spengler Cup represent for total HCD sales? “With eleven million more than a third,” says Gaudenz Domenig. And what is the profit of the tournament? “A good two million.” Only two million with eleven million sales? “I said a good two million, with an emphasis on good.”

The acceptance of the Spengler Cup by the public and the television networks is indisputable. The games are now even streamed live to North America (Canada). Bringing foreign teams to Davos in the old week of the year is not easy given the tight schedule. But even European club competitions (like the Champions Hockey League) have never been turned into competition.

The Spengler Cup has not lost its magic. Gaudenz Domenig says: “When I see how the Spengler Cup, won by Dynamo Minsk last year, was presented with a guard of honor at the opening of the new KHL stadium in Minsk in the entrance hall, then it shows that this is the original. . The idea of ​​sport is celebrated: friendly competition that is not about money or anything else, but about sports competition, games, parties ”.

The tournament is mainly threatened by competition in the lowlands. The National League will stop playing during the Spengler Cup and in the meantime has enforced that the HCD has to pay around 800,000 Swiss francs a year as an “envy tax” to the National League clubs that do not participate in the tournament. This tax does not apply this season. The league uses the week of the old year to catch up on postponed games.

The National League has now become independent and has been formed as a limited company. The association that was supposed to protect the general interests of our hockey, and therefore also the Spengler Cup, no longer has any influence. How great is the risk that clubs will use the week of the Old Year for championships in the future? Gaudenz Domenig said: “We have already agreed with the league that we will extend the current rules for the Spengler Cup break by five years under the same financial conditions.” That means: a break from the Spengler Cup for the National League and the “envy tax” as compensation.

A second failure of the tournament would threaten the existence of the HCD. Gaudenz Domenig says: “If we can’t hold the Spengler Cup twice in a row, it will be a threat to us and almost as bad as another season with ghost games. Spengler Cup viewership revenue is higher than the entire rating. “