The nine-day event, which was held in Prague, Czech Republic on 1-9 December 2018, registered a total attendance of 181,518, breaking the previous attendance record for the floorball world championships set in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2014 (104,445).
79 per cent of unique spectators came from outside of Prague, generating close to €6 million in tourism spend and 41,510 bed nights in the host city. Almost 99 per cent of all spectators had a positive experience at the event.
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A total of 32 broadcasters across 17 nations and three continents aired coverage from the world championships. 322 hours of TV coverage was generated in total, while the cumulative attendance amounted to over 8 million viewers.
The social legacy of the event was ensured through the development of various programmes and initiatives that engaged local community, e.g. 12 fan zones set up in major Czech cities, a robust schools programme and the Street Floorball League launched in the summer of 2018 that culminated with the final tournament being held during the world championships.
Other key findings from the study include:
- The event attracted close to 11,500 overseas visitors to Prague
- Overseas visitors spent four nights in the city on average
- 75% of spectators had a better experience in Prague compared to other similar events
- Czech Television showed over 49 hours of coverage of the event in the host country
- 212 journalists and reporters were accredited for the event
- The event had 25 commercial and institutional partners
- 200 volunteers supported the delivery of the competition
- 22,258 children and 522 institutions took part in the schools programme
- 222 teams registered for the first edition of the Street Floorball League
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By GlobalDataThe achievements of the event position the IFF Men’s World Championships 2018 as the 18th most impactful event of the year within Sportcal’s GSI Events Index. The full index is to be published alongside detailed analysis later this month in the annual GSI Report publication.
Apart from a medal for the home team the 2018 Championships fulfilled almost all our plans and hopes. Three years of everyday work paid off and we showed the potential of our sport. The overall spectator support was unbelievable, just at the final game there were more spectators than at the entire first championships we organized 20 years ago.
Filip Šuman, Czech Floorball president
The study was conducted as part of Sportcal’s Global Sports Impact (GSI) Event Studies Programme that provides event owners and hosts with a holistic impact assessment by looking at economic, tourism, event experience, media, social media, sponsorship, sporting and social benefits of hosting events.
The organisers of the WFC 2018 did not only break a number of records, they totally changed the benchmarks for how an IFF World Championships shall be organised. The WFC showcased the potential of our sport and gives the whole floorball community a good base to develop international events further.
John Liljelund, International Floorball Federation secretary general
To request a copy of the study, please contact gsi@sportcal.com. For further information about the GSI Project and the GSI Event Studies Programme, please visit www.sportcal.com/GSI.
