2,000 people inside, 5,000 outside. This is the new rule to be observed for professional clubs. It will apply from next Monday and for three weeks. Stade Malherbe Caen and Caen Basket Calvados have done their calculations to adapt to the new gauges, taking into account their subscribers and partners. Caen Handball is currently spared.
Ticket office closed at Stade Malherbe
With an average of 9,782 spectators since the start of the season, the SMC has a loyal audience divided into two groups. Almost 5,000 subscribing supporters or partners who paid for the season, and almost as many spectators of a match. The latter will no longer be able to access the stadium specifies the club which has to temporarily close its ticket office. It will also suspend the distribution of invitations to communities (Region, Department, Caen town hall). “The club has no choice but it’s hard”Grimaces Christophe Vaucelle, president of the MNK, who remembers the matches of last season with the same system. “We were uncomfortable with everyone outside. And there we have to start again! There are undoubtedly a lot of kids who have received a ticket under the tree for the next game. It’s complicated to live, even for us subscribers”Plague the Boss of the kop, who does not understand why the rule is not proportionality (calculate the gauge according to the capacity of the places). The limit is in fact the same for the Ornano Stadium (21,000 seats) as for a 5,000-seat enclosure.
Caen Basket Calvados forced to reduce sales
The CBC, a solid leader in its championship, attracts up to 3,000 spectators per game, including a thousand subscribers. The gauge applicable indoors therefore obliges it to reduce its ticket office. “The priority must be to bring in naturally all our subscribers. And afterwards, we will put on sale the wheel of tickets that will remain, that is to say between 800 and 1,000 tickets for a match.”Explains Thierry Godfroy, the club’s marketing manager. “For example, against Chartres (January 14), it was a game where we were going to be sold out. We will reduce by around 1,000 spectators and 10 euros instead, which means 10,000 euros lost. Not to mention the loss of revenue at the refreshment stall, which must be closed, and at the club shop”.
The CBC fears the extension of this gauge beyond the three weeks announced. “If the epidemic worsens, a new closed door like last year would be catastrophic”Confides Thierry Godfroy.
The euro is timely for Caen HB
Handball, on the other hand, was spared with the break of the Proligue championship, due to the Euro organized in January. A reprieve for Caen HB which flirts with the bar of 2,000 spectators per match. The resumption is scheduled for February with a trip to Tremblay (February 4) but the Caen leaders are hoping for a relaxation before the match of the year at the Palais des Sports: the derby against Cherbourg (February 11). A strong crowd guaranteed … if the gauge is up by then.