Ice Hockey World Championship hits ticket registration milestone

More than 100,000 fans have signed up for 2024 Ice Hockey World Championship tickets ahead of the end of the pre-sale registration period later this week.

Fans can register until Friday (Sep 15) for the draw to obtain the priority right to purchase tickets for the event, which will be held next May in the Czech Republic. Games will be played at Prague’s 17,300-capacity O2 Arena and Ostrava’s 9,800-capacity Ostravar Arena.

Those that have registered will discover by September 24 if they have received the right for the priority purchase in the first phase of ticket sales. They can then acquire up to six tickets from October 2-4. Unsold tickets will be available to all registrants in the second phase of the priority purchase from October 6-8.

Tickets for daily packages, which include two or three games, will be available in two categories. The more expensive will be €85-€215, with the cheaper selection at €65-€190.

Organisers said the priority ticket scheme was inspired by similar plans utilised by the Olympic Games and Rugby World Cup. They also name-checked the most recent Ice Hockey World Championship in Tampere and Riga.

Petr Bříza, president of the organising committee, said: “The goal of the draw is to provide the ice hockey audience with an equal opportunity to get tickets. This will apply not only to Czech fans, but also to foreign fans. With the draw, we also want to dilute the great interest that we expect at the beginning of the sale.”

Ticket preferences

Organisers said the vast majority of those that have registered already have expressed an interest in the home nation’s games. Fans are also keen to attend games featuring Slovakia, Poland and Finland.

“The most frequently preferred daily package is the games of the Czech team against Finland, and Norway against Switzerland on the opening day of the 2024 IIHF WM, with a total number of almost 35,000 registrations,” organisers said.

“About a thousand preferences less has the second most frequently chosen option which is the daily package with the games of the Czech team against Canada, and Finland against Switzerland. Almost 25,000 users would like to attend the games opposing Czechia versus Switzerland and Norway versus Finland games.”