The future of the Elite League and its teams

Gisland

Active Member
Not sure how other teams are with Season Ticket sales but there may be one less team to worry about. Belfast have extended the `Happy Hour" purchase date until end of May. Spoke with a few Season Ticket holders and this is the first yea r( as yet ) they haven't renewed. Understand a few are not reflective of the overall Giants Fanbase, but 4 non renewals can become 400 very quickly.
 

BostonBart22

Well-Known Member
Not sure how other teams are with Season Ticket sales but there may be one less team to worry about. Belfast have extended the `Happy Hour" purchase date until end of May. Spoke with a few Season Ticket holders and this is the first yea r( as yet ) they haven't renewed. Understand a few are not reflective of the overall Giants Fanbase, but 4 non renewals can become 400 very quickly.
you are right , quite a few devils fans are waiting in these uncertain times to renew, all we can do is hope things improve ASAP. Thankfully your part of the world is not as bad as the uk , in a way good for me as my son lives in belfast...keep safe all in N.I
 

BostonBart22

Well-Known Member
pro 14 rugby plans to finish season starting 22nd august with the final penciled in sept 17th to sept 19 behind closed doors , the final was due at cardiff city stadium 20th june.. still not looking good is it for us....
 

matbur

Well-Known Member
Thread starter #145
Today's WAG traffic lights system, GREEN (best case) stipulates:

All sports, leisure and cultural activities open with physical distancing. All events resume with limited capacity.
There is no indication or certainty when we get to that point, we also need to take in consideration other UK nations' travel requirements and their respective stipulations. Unless this virus suddenly loses is highly effective ability to transmit, we are at the very best looking at the Devils playing in front of a limited crowd with distancing measures next season.

It would be good if the EIHL made some sort of statement.
 

Kevin roog

Well-Known Member
Glasgow announced yesterday that they are suspending season ticket sales due to the uncertainty of whether we will get a season, on the plus side they are doing webcasts from next season
 
Wonder was it lack of sales that prompted the press release. Word around Belfast not good..Very poor season ticket taken, flight limitations all adding to package of don't know and what if's. I don't think Belfast will ice this season. Poss one other Scottish team "taking a pause". It might be competitive 8 team league.
 

osh

Well-Known Member
Can’t see distancing measures in an enclosed arena anywhere working successfully. Hate to be pessimistic, but I value my good health way before attending a hockey game. I say the same thing for Football, Rugby etc etc. Until this Covid19 is completely under control, we are asking for trouble in allowing any sort of large gatherings for sporting occasions imo. I’m also totally against the powers to be allowing the active completion of football and rugby seasons to be completed, in their case, it’s all above huge sums of money, that’s not the case in hockey and quite honestly I fear that our league will take a few years to fully recover.
 

BostonBart22

Well-Known Member
I should imagine all clubs season ticket sales are way down including ours...think devils had 1100 last season ..reckon around 6 or 7 hundred if that sold so far .for up and coming season
 

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
Devils season ticket sales are apparently way above that, and are close to last seasons sales. The fans response apparently has been huge, with the club being well pleased.
 
Great news. I've paid for our season tickets after a lot of deliberation. However if the league is reduced, hope that will mean we get a chance to get our money back with no admin charge as we are not getting what we paid for and what was advertised.
 

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
I have also like yourself paid for my 4, our money is perfectly safe otherwise I would have had second thoughts, all my mates have paid for there’s also. The future now is in the hands of the Gods, unless Nostradamus gets involved again. Take good care everyone.
 

matbur

Well-Known Member
Thread starter #153
Yes, I know my posts in this thread are negative but that's just reflective of the current circumstances. I, too, have renewed our season tickets and have absolutely no doubt that the money is safe and the Devils will be as good as their word in refunding people should the need arise.

I sincerely hope that the EIHL governing panel are not ignoring these issues and considering impact and damage limitation to protect the clubs and leagues. It is no exaggeration to say UK sport could be decimated this summer, particularly those heavily reliant on spectator income. The EIHL need to be actively planning how to safeguard their teams and product now.

It's just a shame because a missed season could very well break up this team which would be such a cruel way to end this unbelievable era.

Stay safe everyone.
 
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Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
I don’t take your threads as negative, you say what you feel and that’s fair enough, and there’s nothing negative about renewing your seats. We just live in hope. Stay safe, and if you are English Stay Alert.
 
I've yet to renew my season ticket and I cannot see social distancing working at a hockey game. Which is a massive shame its a possibility that the virus isn't going away anytime soon maybe we might get to the point of returning to a version of normal but face masks more prevelent and the volnerable not attending Mass gatherings so there might be hope who knows.
 

Kevlar68

Well-Known Member
Social distancing just can't work in any arena or stadium. Queuing to enter would take forever if everyone 2M apart then how do you control movement around venues with 2M distancing and that's without the seating. There is just no way any form of distancing can be enforced or work.
 

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
With a probable 5 months to go what do you expect anyone to say, No bugger knows what the situation is going to be then so just wait and see. You me and no one else can answer that.
 
Social distancing just can't work in any arena or stadium. Queuing to enter would take forever if everyone 2M apart then how do you control movement around venues with 2M distancing and that's without the seating. There is just no way any form of distancing can be enforced or work.
I hate to be picky but the 2m distancing won't make any difference to how long it will take to get in. I actually think you could make social distancing work if you put enough effort into the planning. Slightly more complex than supermarkets, but doable; circulatory systems, stairs up or down only, etc. Not everyone would need to be 2m apart, family groups could sit together - a number of contributors to this thread have bought 4 season tickets, I suspect few fans buy a single season ticket only. If the rumours of high season ticket sales are true then it may be season tickets only, which means the same people every week learning the distancing routines and getting into good habits - much easier to manage than random strangers every night. Who knows, people may even stay seated when the puck is in play! Someone mentioned problems evacuating the building in the event of a fire - surely this is a low risk and, in the unlikely event of a fire, any thoughts of distancing will be temporarily set aside whilst dealing with a clear and present risk. I appreciate this wouldn't be for everyone and some are more risk averse than others, but I wouldn't write off next season just yet - it will be interesting to see how the test, track, trace initiative goes. Fingers crossed!
 

Kevlar68

Well-Known Member
Have to disagree i'm afraid and this is just my opinion.

A normal queue the people are usually about 2ft apart so it may not seem much but 2M is an extra 4 1/2 feet between each person. Then as they enter that 2 metres would have to be kept along with a route, no free walking, doors would have to be one person at a time with a 2M gap in to arena not herds of people so that all takes up time.
Stairs up or down only, that would mean everyone in a single block can only leave via one staircase as one side would be up and other side would be down. What if one person on the side of the block on the up side stairs wanted to go down the stairs? This would mean passing each other on a row to use the stair case they wanted to use, this would also not be permitted due to social distancing rules. So does that mean they'd have to go up to then go down? Having to use the toilet you'd have to pass people, again you wouldn't be able to.
Season ticket holders from one household have season tickets next to another household without 2M in between, many season ticket holders sit next to other season tickets that don't come from the same household, so there lies another problem and what about row in front and behind? They're not 2M away.
As for season tickets holders only saying they would get better adapted than a random stranger isn't a valid point. What next, ban children as they move and run about in the arena more than anyone.
You could not put in place a route system within a arena. I've sat in my seat on a period break and the people move each and every way. With a 15 min break you couldn't get everyone to where they want to go with a routed system within that time.

I've managed at the WNIR and Millennium Stadium, neither of those places in my opinion could be set up for social distancing with a good crowd and same goes for Viola.

I want to see our team again, i'd love the season to start as soon as possible but not at the cost of maybe spreading the virus through the fan base.
 
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