Hosts for 2023-2025 named

[Pandaman11]

2023: Russia, St. Petersburg
2024: Czech Rep., Praha & Ostrava
2025: Sweden & Denmark, cities tbd

Full article: IIHF - St. Petersburg gets 2023 Worlds

Click to read more...

 

[Albatros]

Boring rotation.

 

[Urbanskog]

The last World Championship in Russia was spectacularly poorly attended and they're hosting again already in 2023? SKA's new arena (which is supposed to become the largest in Europe) is going to serve as one of the venues so it's certainly going to be a sight to see Italy and France play against each other there in front of a couple of thousand people.

 

[Mirinho]

Boring rotation.

lol and which better other host countries than SUI, FIN, RUS, CZE and SWE would you pick? ... when it's hold in the czech republic = new attendance record (like in 2004 and 2015)

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Year	Host country	Total attendance	Number of games	Attendance per game	Ref
2015	Czech Republic	741,690	64	11,589	[1]
2017	Germany & France	686,391	64	10,725
2014	Belarus	640,044	64	10,001	[2]
2004	Czech Republic	552,097	56	9,859	[3]
2010	Germany	548,768	56	9,799	[4]
1997	Finland	526,172	52	10,119	[5]
2018	Denmark	520,481	64	8,133

[TBODY] [/TBODY]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Albatros]

Would be good to see new locations once in a while, now the only potential option until at least 2026 is Malmö.

 

[maclean]

Let's hope Sweden learned their lesson a bit from the two years in a row where they had dismal attendance.

Would be good to see new locations once in a while, now the only potential option until at least 2026 is Malmö.

What would you suggest? We just had Germany+France and Denmark. To go somewhere new you kind of have to dip into the realm of yo-yo teams. Is it supposed to go to Italy? Kazakhstan?

 

[Rob Brown]

Serious thought, if they want to try and grow this tournament in North America, why not have it hosted over here one year?

 

[Albatros]

What would you suggest? We just had Germany+France and Denmark. To go somewhere new you kind of have to dip into the realm of yo-yo teams. Is it supposed to go to Italy? Kazakhstan?

In Russia there are plenty of new options like Kazan for example. In Czechia Brno or perhaps Plzeň. As for countries that haven't hosted recently there would also be possibilities like Great Britain or Norway. Personally I would favor giving a Division I country the opportunity once in a decade.

 

[unknownbrother]

Serious thought, if they want to try and grow this tournament in North America, why not have it hosted over here one year?

They'd have to pick somewhere without fear of clashing with NHL and NBA playoffs. So that narrows it down to Edmonton and Ottawa.

 

[Gold Standard]

Serious thought, if they want to try and grow this tournament in North America, why not have it hosted over here one year?

with locations determined up until 2023 you need a city (or two) with the appropriate venues that can guarantee availability in May 2024. Who the hell is going to bid on hosting? Halifax/Quebec City again? It pretty much excludes all NHL cities. and outside NHL cities, there isn't a long list of possible destinations for it to be held. Keep it in Europe where it belongs.

 

[Albatros]

Who the hell is going to bid on hosting? Halifax/Quebec City again?

A valid question, but there are some potential alternatives like Saskatoon and Regina for example.

 

[Oan]

Any venues or interest in Michigan, Minnesota or Massachusetts?

 

[Urbanskog]

A valid question, but there are some potential alternatives like Saskatoon and Regina for example.

Those are small towns in the middle of nowhere, the attendance would be awful.

 

[Albatros]

I don't think that's the problem, rather that the time difference to Europe is way too much.

 

[maclean]

In Russia there are plenty of new options like Kazan for example. In Czechia Brno or perhaps Plzeň. As for countries that haven't hosted recently there would also be possibilities like Great Britain or Norway. Personally I would favor giving a Division I country the opportunity once in a decade.

If Russia had attendance problems last time, I'm not sure Kazan would be such a great idea.

In the Czech Republic there are also good reasons for it not to be in other cities, and those concern infrastructure. Amount of seating is obviously a main concern, but for a tournament of this size other facilities are also required, and they must be sufficiently modern, or the arena must be specially modernised for the purpose of hosting. O2 arena in Prague was built with this function in mind. Ostravar arena was also renovated with an eye to being able to fulfil this function. Brno only has a capacity of 7700, Plzeň has a capacity of 8236 but was built in 1950 and a quarter of that is standing. Pardubice for example has a capacity of 10194, but again one fifth of that is standing room and it was last renovated in 2001, I'm not sure it can provide the other facilities necessary for an event of this size. Ease of access is another matter, you need an international airport. Pardubice does have an airport with a new terminal built recently with the aim of being a kind of "cheaper Prague airport", but honestly if two cities in the country are going to be hosting, you need to put one in Moravia and not so close to Prague. And with the infrastructure Prague has, you can't sensibly leave it out.

 

[NyQuil]

Serious thought, if they want to try and grow this tournament in North America, why not have it hosted over here one year?

It was hosted in Halifax and Quebec City in 2008.

They had respectable attendance by tournament standards but perhaps not for a hockey-mad country.

 

[tony d]

Be nice to see Canada host it again. I know it could interfere with the NHL playoffs and what not but there are Canadian cities that don't have NHL teams that could host the event.

 

[Albatros]

If Russia had attendance problems last time, I'm not sure Kazan would be such a great idea.

But even bigger arenas in St. Petersburg will solve it? The last time around the highest attendance there was 6,090 and now they want to play at the largest arena in the world. That will be just another lost opportunity and contributes little to the development of hockey in Russia or elsewhere.

In the Czech Republic there are also good reasons for it not to be in other cities, and those concern infrastructure. Amount of seating is obviously a main concern, but for a tournament of this size other facilities are also required, and they must be sufficiently modern, or the arena must be specially modernised for the purpose of hosting. O2 arena in Prague was built with this function in mind. Ostravar arena was also renovated with an eye to being able to fulfil this function. Brno only has a capacity of 7700, Plzeň has a capacity of 8236 but was built in 1950 and a quarter of that is standing.

Sure you can bring the World Championships to Ostrava every nine years, but what does this loop achieve beyond preserving status quo? There should be more exceptions to the rule and more attempts to bring the game to new locations even if it means that the facilities aren't going to be purpose-built for the IIHF World Championships.

 

[Urbanskog]

I'd rather see more tournaments shared between different countries. Bratislava-Vienna or Bratislava-Budapest or Budapest-Vienna could be great, for example. I don't see why does Slovakia always need to include Kosice in the bid when there's only one decent arena in the country. Copenhagen-Malmö in 2025 would be a good combination as well.

 

[maclean]

But even bigger arenas in St. Petersburg will solve it? The last time around the highest attendance there was 6,090 and now they want to play at the largest arena in the world. That will be just another lost opportunity and contributes little to the development of hockey in Russia or elsewhere.



Sure you can bring the World Championships to Ostrava every nine years, but what does this loop achieve beyond preserving status quo? There should be more exceptions to the rule and more attempts to bring the game to new locations even if it means that the facilities aren't going to be purpose-built for the IIHF World Championships.

I don't disagree.

Russia will definitely have to put some effort into getting butts in seats. I mean, it shouldn't be any harder than putting reasonable prices on tickets and not trying to gouge people. I didn't pay much attention to the reasons for low attendance last time, but it's not like there aren't people in Russia that want to watch hockey. On that note, yes, bringing the WC to Ostrava every nine years isn't such a grow-the-sport move, but it does reward people that are clearly willing to come and cheer, because the CR breaks attendance records every time they hold it.

 

[Atas2000]

The last World Championship in Russia was spectacularly poorly attended and they're hosting again already in 2023? SKA's new arena (which is supposed to become the largest in Europe) is going to serve as one of the venues so it's certainly going to be a sight to see Italy and France play against each other there in front of a couple of thousand people.

Then go get the French and Italians to visit St.Petersburg. That's not Russia's nor IIHF's fault. How many italian fans were there in Bratislava? And let's not even start about the French.

 

[Jussi]

Serious thought, if they want to try and grow this tournament in North America, why not have it hosted over here one year?

Because the IIHF doesn't decide which country hosts the tournament, the hockey federations need to apply to host it. It's not hosted in North America because USA Hockey and Hockey Canada aren't applying to host it.

 

[Jussi]

Then go get the French and Italians to visit St.Petersburg. That's not Russia's nor IIHF's fault. How many italian fans were there in Bratislava? And let's not even start about the French.

I think all 5 were there.

 

[BOS358]

Any venues or interest in Michigan, Minnesota or Massachusetts?

Leaving out the small matter that the tournament is prohibited from being hosted in the US or Canada (2008 excepted), probably not. In each of those, the NHL team's arena would be required (good luck scheduling that around the playoffs) and while the various NCAA arenas could work as secondary venues, they'll be needed for commencement activities, restricting their availability.

 

[jj cale]

Leaving out the small matter that the tournament is prohibited from being hosted in the US or Canada (2008 excepted), probably not. In each of those, the NHL team's arena would be required (good luck scheduling that around the playoffs) and while the various NCAA arenas could work as secondary venues, they'll be needed for commencement activities, restricting their availability.

That has been explained to them a thousand times and they just refuse to accept that fact. I gave up on it awhile back, they just don't want to hear it. All they ever do is keep replying....."all you need to do is put in a bid"

They don't want to hear about the realities of trying to have it here and why bids are not put in.