11/09/2017 16:16
Record-breaking #EuroVolleyM in numbers
2017 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men
Luxembourg, September 11, 2017. A week has passed since the crowning of the new #EuroVolleyM champions. Let us look back at the premier men’s European Volleyball event from another perspective and while emotions have settled down, give the numbers a chance to speak for themselves. Sixteen teams played 36 matches over an 11-day period in four Polish cities, all together accounting for 124 hours spent on court by Europe’s Volleyball elite.
One of the main questions faced by the hosts of a tournament of these proportions is whether they will be able to fill the competition halls in the venues where the home team is not playing. Poland is blessed in this regard, not only having some of the most passionate fans in the world but also most educated in their sport of choice – as noted by CEV President Aleksandar Boričić during his press conference in Krakow. More than 217,000 of these fans flocked to the arenas to see top Volleyball, averaging 6,042 spectators per match – even more than during the World Championship organised by Poland three years ago (5,698).
When making such comparisons, it would be strange not to mention the Opening Match and Opening Ceremony held at PGE National Stadium in Warsaw. It was the first time for a European Championship to start in such a monumental way and the second time for Poland to accomplish a feat of filling up a large football stadium for a Volleyball show. With 65,407 spectators in attendance “Poland vs. Serbia II” surpassed the 2014 World Championship opening match (61,500) and did so even while being held in the middle of the week and lacking the label of “first ever”.
Stadium game aside, the home team’s matches in Gdansk were naturally the ones that generated the most interest from the fans, but even without the home team the semi-finals and finals turned out to be the most attended games of the tournament. How many spectators watched the exploits of each #EuroVolleyM team?
|
No.
|
Team
|
Matches played
|
Total No. of spectators
|
|
1
|
Poland
|
4
|
93088
|
|
2
|
Serbia
|
6
|
92889
|
|
3
|
Belgium
|
6
|
34172
|
|
4
|
Germany
|
6
|
32189
|
|
5
|
Russia
|
6
|
31189
|
|
6
|
Finland
|
4
|
19679
|
|
7
|
Slovenia
|
5
|
19365
|
|
8
|
Italy
|
5
|
18090
|
|
9
|
Estonia
|
3
|
16618
|
|
10
|
Czech Republic
|
5
|
15906
|
|
11
|
Bulgaria
|
5
|
14938
|
|
12
|
France
|
4
|
12455
|
|
13
|
Turkey
|
4
|
11300
|
|
14
|
The Netherlands
|
3
|
8450
|
|
15
|
Slovakia
|
3
|
7490
|
|
16
|
Spain
|
3
|
7282
|
While Poland and Serbia’s position is to be expected, Belgium and Germany topping the new European Champions is a little surprise. Germany were also the busiest of sixteen teams, leading in three other categories – number of sets played, number of rallies and total game time:
|
No.
|
Team
|
Matches played
|
Sets played
|
Rallies played
|
Total game time
|
|
1
|
Germany
|
6
|
25
|
1073
|
11:37
|
|
2
|
Serbia
|
6
|
24
|
1067
|
11:28
|
|
3
|
Belgium
|
6
|
24
|
1040
|
10:48
|
|
4
|
Russia
|
6
|
20
|
883
|
9:09
|
|
5
|
Czech Republic
|
5
|
18
|
833
|
8:41
|
|
6
|
France
|
4
|
17
|
768
|
7:35
|
|
7
|
Italy
|
5
|
17
|
761
|
8:16
|
|
8
|
Bulgaria
|
5
|
16
|
734
|
7:43
|
|
9
|
Slovenia
|
5
|
15
|
699
|
7:16
|
|
10
|
Turkey
|
4
|
15
|
696
|
7:03
|
|
11
|
Finland
|
4
|
15
|
675
|
7:05
|
|
12
|
Estonia
|
3
|
13
|
566
|
6:24
|
|
13
|
Poland
|
4
|
13
|
566
|
5:59
|
|
14
|
The Netherlands
|
3
|
13
|
548
|
5:37
|
|
15
|
Slovakia
|
3
|
10
|
454
|
4:46
|
|
16
|
Spain
|
3
|
9
|
403
|
4:07
|
|