Bandy at the Olympics
With high attendance figures at the World Championships, bandy is the second most popular winter sport in terms of day-ticket sales. Furthermore, a probability analysis suggests that bandy will help to drive above-average stadium attendance.
Bandy is the only major heritage sport not featured in the Olympic Games, despite being the continental heritage sport of North Asia and the national heritage and cultural sport of Russia, Kazakhstan, Finland and Sweden. The report highlights that the GTO is concentrated in Europe, or between Europe and North America, in terms of heritage sports included in the programme, the athlete base and the concentration of medals. This contrasts with the Olympic Charter, which encompasses five continents, symbolised by the five interlocking rings.
Bandy ranks third in terms of the continental spread of athletes and demonstrates a better representation of continental excellence than many disciplines that are essentially European only.
The Olympic Charter explicitly promotes women in sport by promoting gender equality. Bandy ranks 4th in terms of gender equality.
‘Benchmarking as a punch in the Olympic wall’ shows that bandy is the second most popular winter sport in terms of participation, based on data provided by international federations. The report demonstrates that the sport has greater universality than most existing Olympic disciplines.
Bandy at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games
As part of the 2020 Youth Olympic Games, bandy was featured during the winter sports promotion days in Lausanne.
On 17 and 18 January 2020, visitors had the opportunity to try bandy in the heart of Lausanne.
The event was organised by the FIB and the FSB in cooperation with the Sports Department of the City of Lausanne.
Everyone involved in bandy was delighted that the sport was showcased as part of the ongoing effort to secure its future inclusion in the Olympic programme.
Bandy at the 2019 Winter Universiade
Bandy recently took part in the Universiade for the first time. The Yenisei Arena in Krasnoyarsk was packed with thousands of spectators for many of the tournament’s matches, both men’s and women’s.
Bandy attracted a great deal of attention, and many of those who had never seen the sport before found it fascinating, easy to understand and full of speed and drama. Many people in countries where winter sports are practised feel it is only natural that bandy should be part of the Olympic Games.
Importantly, bandy was the most popular sport in terms of ticket sales, even ahead of the king of winter sports, ice hockey!
