The cost-of-living crisis affects football clubs and fans across all of Europe. In Norway Martin Odegaard’s first professional club, the top tier side Strømsgodset, have launched a ticket fund and announced frozen season ticket prices before the upcoming 2023 season.
- We know that people are financially tight these days. Many families must prioritise what they spend their money on, and for some football fans it may simply be too expensive right now. We think this is a shame, especially for all the children and young people who are following us. That was why we chose to establish this ticket fund, says Head of Private Market and Media at Strømsgodset, Signe Rismyhr Engelund.
Fund covered season tickets
The club initially reserved 50 season tickets for their Blue Heart’s ticket fund, with the aim to give families and private individuals the opportunity to apply for fund covered season tickets for themselves and/or their loved ones. The application deadline was set to 10 March.
The result for the campaign was 11 applications for a total amount of 30 season tickets. All the applications were considered valid, and all 30 season tickets were granted.
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“For us as a club this means that 30 devoted fans who probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to attend our matches this season now can follow us throughout the entire season. This is very important for us since the city of Drammen has Norway’s highest share of children from low-income families, and since social sustainability is in the very heart of our club. Thereby the name Blue Heart’s ticket fund,” says Mrs Rismyhr Engelund.
She guarantees that the applications have been treated with strict confidentiality within the club.
“We understand that applying for these season tickets may be experienced as socially stigmatising, so there is actually only one staff member who has had access to these applications.”
At Strømsgodset they are happy to register that several of their competitors have picked up on their initiative.
“Our fans are among our most valuable assets. That goes for us, and it goes for any football club anywhere. Combined with frozen season ticket prices and our newly launched subscription solution for those who want to spread their season ticket cost across 12 monthly instalments, I think our Blue Heart’s ticket fund is a vital contributor to making football accessible for everyone in Drammen and the surrounding areas,” says Signe Rismyhr Engelund.
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