Nelonen Media and a group of famous sports people are asking Finns to sponsor sports clubs and, in doing so, claim a spot on the Finnish national team.
In addition to providing opportunities for sport and leisure activities, sports clubs play an important role in creating future top athletes. The clubs also provide jobs for nearly 30,000 employees*. As a result of pandemic, many clubs have hit dire financial straits, with public sponsorship unlikely to be enough to save them all.
Nelonen Media wants to encourage sports fans to support clubs financially. For this purpose, Nelonen Media has created a Finnish national team that anyone can join – the only precondition of membership is sponsorship of a sports club.
To prove your sponsorship, you can pay a membership fee, purchase a supporter product or buy a match ticket.
Place for everyone
The Finnish national team welcomes all private persons and sports communities, regardless of the sport. The members currently include the national sport associations of American football, Finnish baseball, cheerleading and ice hockey. Some of the famous names from the world of sports who have already joined the team including the retired ice-hockey star Jere Lehtinen, the rising star of figure skating, Linnea Ceder, as well as the captain of the Helsinki Seagulls basketball team, Tuukka Kotti.
Kotti highlights the importance of support during these exceptional times:
“The support of our passionate fans has spurred us to a fantastic season, and we want to show our gratitude by leaving everything on the court. In challenging times, community spirit is more important than ever and we can grow by helping each other. By supporting your team, you can do your bit to keep games and club activities going.”
“It’s important to maintain the health of Finnish sports. That’s why we are inviting all Finns to support their favourite sports and clubs in this most difficult of situations. Through our own channels, we are also supporting the full range of sports from women’s and men’s top-level leagues to the junior leagues as well as sports with a slightly smaller following,” says Kari Laakso, President at Nelonen Media.
Laakso also wants sports clubs to buy into the national team, using it for fund-raising and activating their fans in social media. Any fan of any club can also automatically join the national team and is entitled to their own national team player card.
For more information, go to suomenmaajoukkue.fi (in Finnish)
* Ministry of Education and Culture: Liikunta- ja urheiluseurat muutoksessa 1986–2016, 2018 (in Finnish)