photo: Jiří Zemen, PrahaIN.cz /The O2 arena is ready for the hockey World Cup
The Ice Hockey World Championship hasn’t even started yet, but it has already stirred up a lot of passion. We are not referring to the performance of our players in the preliminary matches, or even the appearance of the coaching staff and president Alois Hadamczik at the press conference, but rather the price of beer in the fan zone near Prague’s O2 arena.
The fan zone in Prague will have an area of about 8,400 square meters and a capacity of up to seven thousand people.
It will be possible to order Pilsner Urquell beer at the price of 110 crowns in these places.
This news has been circulating in the media for more than a week. During more than seven days, PrahaIN.cz observed reactions on social networks, but also in the media. Nothing else can be said other than that the vast majority of people were outraged by the amount for Pilsner lager.
The editors compared the Prague WC with foreign events, the result is that beer for the amount of 110 is actually good.
“The price of beer in the fan zones is not determined by Plzeňský Prazdroj, but is set by the organizing committee of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship,” says Zdeněk Kovář, spokesman for Plzeňský Prazdroj, and repeats that the creation of the price for consumers is always under the direction of the seller.
Monday afternoon, preparation of the fan zone in Prague. Source: PrahaIN.cz
Jan Kuklík, the press spokesman for the domestic World Cup, confirms to the editors that the prize was determined by the organizing committee of the World Cup 2024, which analyzed similar large sporting events in the Czech Republic and abroad. According to him, the price is adequately set, it is tank beer, which includes the maximum possible service.
The cheapest at the last WC?
“If we compare the last championships, for example Tampere and Riga, then in Finland the price went up to 200 kroner, for that price they even sold beer in tins, and if we compare the quality, we are completely different, it is tank beer and so on. In Riga, beer was about 150, 160 crowns,” says Kuklík.
This award is also confirmed by a Czech fan who visited last year’s World Cup in Latvia and we reported his feelings already last year in May.
“If I were to take the prices for an average Czech who comes to hockey, maybe for a few games, walks around the city, has a beer and dinner in the evening, then in the end it’s probably not so bad. Beer is expensive, but that is everywhere in the world, except for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Beer in the city costs around four to five euros. Six in the stadium,” he said at the time.
Riga 2023. Source: Michal Sojka for PrahaIN.cz
In football stadiums in Germany, for example Bayern Munich, but also at second division Fürth, you will pay around 5 to 5.50 euros for a beer, which translates to about 135 crowns.
In Spain, however, you cannot serve beer at football matches, so the interested party can only order in front of the stadium. For example, near the Real Madrid Santiago Bernabéu stadium last year, a stand offered beer for less than 6 euros, and the queue of fans in white jerseys was endless.
In front of the Real Madrid stadium. Source: PrahaIN.cz
Let’s go back to hockey, but the best in the world, which is played across the ocean. In the Canadian-American NHL, the prices for beer in the halls there are very high, according to the Business Insider server, in 2014, one beer cost an average of 7.34 dollars, which was then converted to about 150 crowns. Similar prices no longer apply.
Server The Hockey News two years ago, referring to a time2play.com survey, calculated how much beer fans drink during a game and how much they spend on it. According to them, three NHL teams sell one beer for $9.50 (about 220 crowns).
Very expensive refreshments are also at one of the biggest sporting events in the world – the Super Bowl. For example, the 58th NFL Finals was held in Nevada, and according to the LADbible portal, beer here cost from $13.99 to $15.99.
