SDHL takes on the audience issue: "Credibility the biggest problem"

SDHL attracts world players and constantly takes sporting steps.

But in the stands, there has been no development since the Riksserien became the SDHL six years ago.

The average is still around 200 in total for the league, and if you look at individual clubs, Gothenburg, SDE, AIK and Linköping have so far this year under 100 spectators per match.

The low audience figures are a big problem for the league, says SDHL's commercial manager Angelica Lindeberg.

"Credibility the biggest problem"

- Credibility is by far the biggest problem.

We go out and think we are a very good league and we are one of the best leagues in the world, the best in Europe.

But if you look at the audience, it is difficult to justify or defend it, she says.

Despite the fact that the audience is a club issue, the league now chooses to step in and support the associations.

The SDHL is developing an audience strategy based on interviews with all clubs, and in November the league will hold a workshop with all of them.

- It is very high and low in terms of organization in the clubs, so we may need to have a central framework on what is the lowest common denominator.

But at the end of the day, it has to be a high-profile issue for the clubs.

We can do what we can do, but it's in the clubs that you drive audiences.

The resource issue in focus

When SDHL interviewed the clubs, the resource issue was in focus.

It takes a lot of marketing and communication to succeed in attracting an audience, and apart from individual matches, most clubs have had a tough time.

- In general, I think that you are bad at getting information about those who come to record matches and what you have to do to get them back.

Free matches where you have to break a record have their function, but in the long run it is not something that benefits a lot, says Angelica Lindeberg.

In addition, you can see from SDHL's side that the target group is not the same as the audience at the men's matches.

- You might be able to attract them to individual matches, but I don't think the main focus should be trying to save them.

We have identified that target group is not an SDHL target group.

What we envision and what we want above all is the slightly younger generation and also families.