Positive encounters in a relaxed atmosphere throughout Czech Republic – this is what the summer time event has provided to floorball players and partners alike.
The Street Floorball League was launched during the summer of 2018 to keep the interest in the sport alive during what is usually a “dead season” for floorball (the domestic league season runs from September until April) and to spread the message about the world championships. The initiative consisted of 12 outdoor events organised in major cities across the Czech Republic between June and August, and the final tournament that was held in the O2 arena during the world championships.
– The Street Floorball League helps floorball present itself in attractive outdoor locations so it could be spotted by people who are not following floorball and you can reach their attention. Very important is also that around 30% of players are non-licensed which means we can reach also recreational players who play floorball just for fun but are not part of Czech Floorball. The events are an effective way to communicate with them and we are trying to raise their awareness of elite floorball as well as inform about our events, projects and communication channels” Mr. Roman Urbar, Marketing Manager of Czech Floorball, explains.
For sponsors this outdoor event is an unique opportunity to reach the players during the day because they are in the open air tournament just to have fun and to enjoy time with friends. They spend time in one place for a minimum of five hours! This opportunity was seized by one of the IFF main sponsors, flooring manufacturer Gerflor. The local Czech representatives of Gerflor and the Czech federation planned the project together. The summer events were a natural way to portray their Sport Court outdoor modular tiles called Powergame. During the tour every event was equipped with a blue Powergame court. As the Street Floorball League proved its popularity last year, later the Czech Floorball decided to purchase the court and it’s being used again for the continuation of the event during the summer 2019.
– Our main ambitions in 2018 were to promote Gerflor brand as sport flooring specialist and to start up local partnership with Czech Floorball. When marketing team of Czech Floorball presented us the idea we immediately saw the potential of this event. We had an opportunity to promote our outdoor product range Sport Court Powergame together with Taraflex, which was chosen as a floor for championship 2018 in Prague. This event was, in term of marketing, very successful for us and we are looking forward for the next season!“ says Stepan Neuwirth, sales manager of Gerflor CZ.
The Street Floorball League also created larger interest as other partners such as the insurance company Česká pojišťovna and the beer brand Holba participated as the main sponsors. The event created many positive encounters in a relaxed atmosphere.