– You just have to put away all excuses and excuses. It is just completely tragic that more tickets have not been sold when two of Norway’s best women’s teams, with some of the strongest brands, meet for the ultimate football party on the women’s side. That’s what Hege Jørgensen, general manager of Topfotball Kvinner, says when news presents the number of tickets sold ahead of Saturday’s cup final. – There won’t be more people at matches because football managers go out and call it tragic, says Sebastian Hytten, spokesman for the Clan. General manager of Topfotball Women, Hege Jørgensen. She would have liked to have seen greater involvement from the public before the women’s cup final. Photo: Håvard Greger Hagen / news There have been an average of 4,851 spectators at the women’s cup final over the past ten years, except for 2020, when corona restrictions meant that only 200 spectators were allowed. In comparison, there were 77,390 spectators at the women’s cup final in England in May, while 44,808 spectators were present when Wolfsburg won the cup in Germany. Chelsea’s Australian striker Sam Kerr celebrates in front of the Chelsea fans after scoring the match-winning goal in the women’s FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London on May 14, 2023. Photo: BEN STANSALL / AFP In Sweden, the women’s cup final saw a tremendous lift this year. After the number of spectators was mostly between 1,000 and 2,000 in the last ten years, a total of 17,623 spectators caught the cup final between Hammarby and Häcken in June. Denmark, on the other hand, does not have as much to brag about, with its 3,006 spectators in this year’s cup final. – Can’t force people to play Hege Jørgensen is aware that women’s football in Norway does not have the same marketing budgets as the men’s side or in England. She is primarily frustrated by the lack of commitment. – We stretch out our hands and wonder what the hell is going on. Top football Women and the clubs work every day to crack the code. We can’t force people to fight, says Jørgensen and continues: – In the rest of the world, we see enormous development in both club teams and the women’s national team, but in Norway we are lagging behind. She points out that close to 8,600 tickets were sold for Brann’s match against Slavia Praha in the women’s Champions League. – In Bergen, women have really been embraced as an extremely important part of the city of Bergen. This has not been achieved in other parts of the country to the same extent. We think it’s only a matter of time before that happens, it’s just weird that it’s taking so long. It was crowded in the stands during Wednesday’s match between Brann and Slavia Praha in the football championship at Brann Stadion. Photo: NTB – Must pull in the same direction – They clearly deserved a better turnout, says Sebastian Hytten, spokesman for the Clan, to news. – Everyone who is fond of football, women’s football and works in this field, must pull in the same direction and build something that people want to follow, he says further. The clan prepares for the cup final as they would if the men were to play. The cabin expects well over 1,000 attendees from the Clan. – There has been a great growth in the women’s matches at Vålerenga this year. You have to take the time to help and bet that more people will open their eyes to women’s football. 6,341 spectators at Intility Arena saw Selma Pettersen and her Vålerenga in the qualifying match for the championship between Vålerenga and Real Madrid earlier this autumn. Photo: NTB – Unrealistic with 20,000 In contrast to Vålerenga, Rosenborg has a separate supporter group for the women’s team, namely Troillogan. Marte Persdatter Tangvik is spokesperson for the Troillogan Oslo department. She also doesn’t have a good answer as to why the interest isn’t greater before the cup final, but she thinks it will help with more promotion from the media – and especially rights holder news and the local newspaper Adressa. Nevertheless, she says that Jørgensen’s ambitions are a bit high for now. – I think it is unrealistic to go from around 5,000 tickets sold, to a jump of over 20,000, in just one year. Of course we would like so many to come, but it takes time to build up a supporter culture around the women’s teams, says Tangvik to news. Last Sunday, the two cup finalists met for the last series round in the Toppserien. Then 4124 made the trip to the Lerkendal stadium. – Such a turnout in five or six minus degrees shows that something is going on in Trondheim too, says Tangvik. She does not blame Kjernen for prioritizing the men’s team and their elite series match against Strømsgodset at Lerkendal the day after the cup final. – There are people who already spend a lot of their free time and money going to the men’s team matches, so you can’t expect them to do the same with the women’s team, says Tangvik. Has been free in the past. It is the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) that is responsible for selling tickets to the cup final. In recent years, tickets to the women’s cup final have been paid for by partners and thus free for the public. This is not the case this year. This is also pointed out by commercial director Runar Pahr Andresen in the NFF to news and emphasizes that Topfotball Kvinner and the NFF work together to increase the commercial value of women’s football and matches. – There is agreement that match tickets must then be priced rather than only given away for free in top football. This is the first time the women’s cup final is priced for a ticket, in a range from NOK 25 to NOK 200 – and we will of course evaluate the result after the final, says Pahr Andresen. He further says that they work actively to sell many more tickets through measures such as team offers, newsletters, as well as content, promotion and advertising on their own channels. – The final teams, Topfotball Kvinner and NFF work together to get as many people as possible to Ullevaal when two of Norway’s best teams meet in the cup final. The setting around the match will be fantastic, and we encourage everyone who has the opportunity to make the trip to Ullevaal. Two of Norway’s best teams also deserve it, he says further. Jørgensen does not think the fact that the tickets now cost money will be negative for the number of spectators. – We know from insight surveys that price is not an obstacle for the public, she says.
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