Two years of planning and preparation turned into four fabulous days of sport with several records and an amazing atmosphere created by the 52,284 total visitors that attended the O2 Arena during the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Prague over the weekend.
The President of the Czech Athletics Federation and Local Organising Committee, Libor Varhanik, and Executive Director of the championships, Tomáš Jank…¯, revealed their recipes for success.
“The crowd was unbelievable, fans made this event special. I think we must have created a new attendance record for the European Athletics Indoor Championships,” Jank…¯ states. The former national team athlete was responsible for running the championships and led many promotional activities.
“We planned a couple of events and contests to attract fans. For example, we had a nice stand at a couple of running events, we continued our promo during the Czech team championships, and also the ice sculpture exhibition was very successful. Then, we prepared many actions for kids in schools and also within the project Athletics for the Kids. We promoted the events extensively on our web page and also via social networks,” Jank…¯ continued.
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Organisers all over the world already know that fan involvement is the crucial factor.
“We wanted people to want the championships in Prague and to be the part of the event. We tried to invent such campaigns to attract the crowds,” reveals CAF President Varhaník.
“Hand in hand with our motto: The fan is a part of the team, we chose the charismatic athletes who did not disappoint us. Two of them also managed to win a medal – Maslák and Prášil. Also the other ambassadors helped us a lot. The next successful campaign was “Legends of the past, stars of the present”.
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Ticket sales started quite early - just before the European Athletics Championships in Zurich - and they were available online from the beginning of August. The tickets ranged from CZK 150 to CZK 750 (from 6 to 20 €).
'The number of best places – the first category tickets, were very limited. Those were the tickets to the first floor, where only approximately 700 seats went on sale,” Varhaník added.
'We deliberately chose the ticket price to make sure that it was affordable and acceptable to the general public. Profit from the tickets sale was not crucial for us. We wanted to sell out the tickets because the atmosphere of the championships was the most important to us.”
Approximately 1,500 seats were occupied by journalists and VIP guests. Space on the first floor was also required to accommodate the podium area and television studios.
President Varhaník reflected on the championships and praised his LOC team:
“The biggest reward for more than two years of intense hard work of the organising committee was to see the arena filled with cheering fans. I am very thankful to have been given the chance to experience such a fantastic atmosphere in the home arena, seeing the Czech athletes winning medals on home soil. I think I will never ever get this chance again, as an organiser and as a fan at the same time. It was a very emotional experience for me.”
“We were able to create a strong team with a shared vision and we are glad to have secured the financing and anticipate positive returns on our investment.”
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Athletics will certainly continue to shine in the Czech Republic.
“After all our shared experiences throughout these championships, it would be a pity to not continue hosting other events,” Jank…¯ added.