The INL is fighting for the fans’ favor – an interim assessment

“In the INL we want to offer ice hockey at a high level. We want to train young players and at the same time attract spectators to the stadiums with teams from three countries,” ÖEHV Vice President Peter Schramm summarized the goals of the INL clubs before the start of the season. They have not yet been fully implemented.

Balance, yes - but only partially

So far, the 15 teams have only offered ice hockey at a really high level in individual cases. Almost without exception there were games with Italian and Austrian participation, because – it quickly became clear – the Slovenian teams only play a minor role in this league. Although there have been some surprise successes, like Celje's against Meran last Saturday, teams from the East usually provide points. At least they implemented Schramm's second goal, namely the promotion of young players. However, they mostly also played regularly at the other clubs - just at a noticeably higher level.

In terms of sport, the teams from Salzburg, Vorarlberg and South Tyrol are almost equal. Only Meran and Kaltern have not yet really taken off. While the Überetscher struggle with limited financial resources, the Adler want to connect with Neumarkt, Val Gardena and Eppan as quickly as possible. They have long since established themselves in the top third of the table and are in an exciting head-to-head race with Zell am See, Lustenau and Co.

The viewer numbers reflect the skepticism

However, the exciting showdown at the top of the table is not really appreciated by the fans. This brings us to the third of the league officials' goals mentioned above. With the exception of VEU Feldkirch, which, as a traditional ice hockey stronghold, has an average of 1.333 spectators per game, no other club broke the 1.000 spectator sound barrier.

On the contrary: the average for the five South Tyrolean teams has remained almost the same compared to the previous season in the less attractive A2 series. Only in the ticket booths in Wolklinstein and Merano are people happy about an increasing number of spectators. HC Gröden welcomed an average of 821 fans to the home game. Last year there were only 729 in the regular season. In Meran the average spectators rose from 255 to 437. The ice rink in Eppan is usually as full as last year with 483 fans. However, the trend is different in Neumarkt, where 532 spectators make the pilgrimage to the Würtarena per game, almost 200 fewer than last season, but especially in Kaltern. The Hechte were only able to welcome an average of 114 fans to their home games. Last year there were 184.

There are several reasons for the fluctuating spectator numbers, primarily due to the game date, the attractiveness of the opponent and the player personnel (for example the “Bonino effect” last year at HC Neumarkt ). However, the fact is - as the official figures from the ÖEHV show - that the concept of INL participation has not yet been accepted 100 percent in this country. It is now up to the five South Tyrolean teams to convince ice hockey fans of the attractiveness of the league as the regular season progresses.

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The INL is fighting for the fans’ favor – an interim assessment

The teams in the Inter-National League have played a third of the 30 regular-season games. It becomes clear: the concept of the cross-border ice hockey championship does not yet apply to all five South Tyrolean league locations.

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