Zug, Switzerland – The Champions Hockey League (CHL) 2018/19 season final will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden on Tuesday with the sold-out event set to provide a prominent platform for sponsors and broadcasters alike thanks to the continued growth of the tournament.As exclusive media and marketing partner of the CHL, Infront will be providing a wide range of services to ensure extensive global coverage and relevant exposure for all stakeholders.
Hosts Frölunda Indians will face first-time German finalist Red Bull Munich in front of a 12,000-strong crowd at the Scandinavium Arena. The final returns to Gothenburg for a second time having first hosted the 2016/17 event at the Frölundaborg Arena which had a capacity of 6,044. This year's game at the Scandinavium Arena, which accommodates twice as many fans, sold out rapidly.The venue means Official Presenting Sponsor engelbert strauss, the four Official Sponsors – betsson, iLoq, Skoda, Tissot and five Official Partners – AJ Produkter, iClinic, LGT, Warrior and Zurich Insurance will all benefit from a significantly larger in-venue audience.
Fans will also benefit from a number of engagement activities introduced for the final.Tissot will expand their digital presence by sponsoring the Best Player Award, which will be activated during the game by start-up partner Pico. Fans can also vote which player they think will be the first to score in the game. In parallel, betsson is sponsoring the MVP vote which garnered almost 13,000 votes during the semi-final round while the best goal vote also began on 29 January. Both activations are solutions provided by Infront subsidiary OMNIGON.Fans attending the final at the Scandinavium Arena can also submit photos with the #CHLFinal hashtag for a chance to be featured in-venue on the jumbotron. A pilot project introduced during the finals sends photographers on site taking pictures of the fans. Thanks to Pomvom and their technology based on advanced facial recognition and AI, the pictures will be distributed seamlessly to the fans during the event.
Media production of the event will also feature a number of initiatives made available just for the final.For the third year in a row, referees will be equipped with a microphone, allowing them to communicate decisions made directly to the crowd and audience at home.Locker room cameras will also be available along with suspension and helmet cameras that will provide a unique insight before and during the final. A total of 22 cameras will be used in the production of the event.The 2018/19 CHL season has been broadcast to 67 territories via 31 broadcasters and platforms. The 2019 Final will see CHL rights holders SVT Sweden, MTV Finland and Sport1 Germany all sending dedicated teams to Gothenburg with the further presence of Germany's ARD and ZDF. This increase in both onsite broadcast media and the number of broadcasters and territories is another sign of the growing global interest in the CHL.
Infront is a leading sports marketing company managing a comprehensive portfolio of top properties. Infront covers all aspects of successful sporting events, including the distribution of media rights, sponsorship, media production, event operation and digital solutions. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Infront has a team of more than 1,000 staff working from 39 offices across more than 14 countries, delivering 4,100 event days of top class sport around the world every year.
The league is fully owned and operated by Champions Hockey League AG/Ltd which includes, as its shareholders, the 26 Founding Clubs, six national Founding Leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Founding National Leagues are: Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. The best teams from the Challenger Leagues (Belarus, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Norway, Poland and Slovakia) are extended Wild Cards. The 2018/19 season includes 32 teams from 13 leagues, comprising a total of 220 national championships between them. The CHL season culminates in a one-game Final showdown to be played on 5 February 2019 at the home venue of the team with the best accumulated Group Stage and Playoff record. A season total of 125 games will have been played by the time the European Trophy is lifted by the champions.
Official Champions Hockey League highlights and clips are available on our official YouTube channel and can be used from online media free of charge by using YouTube’s embedding function. Please give credit to: Champions Hockey League.
Find important information about the Champions Hockey League and the participating teams in the 2018/19 CHL Media Guide.