Couple Tickets: Trending Now

Couples maintains the momentum of recent years. In 15 of the 32 games played, the capacity has been exhausted and in several more it has been close to full, a trend that has increased during the Christmas holidays to surpass the barrier of 27,000 spectators in the eight days played. “The truth is that the data is very good and we are happy,” says Inaxio Errandonea, commercial director of Aspe. «Couples has always had a terrible pull and at Christmas even more so. These are important dates for us and this year we have gotten it right again,” he adds. The fact that the no tickets sign was posted in ten of the 16 matches played on these dates corroborates the trend.

These data are even more valuable if we take into account that companies have not been able to count on a stronghold like the Labrit, where full capacity on Saturdays was practically guaranteed. «We were not afraid, but it is true that on Saturdays at the Labrit, which is a fronton in the center of Pamplona, the plan of eating and going to the fronton was nice and filled up easily. However, Logroño has joined, which has been a success, and more games have been played in Donostia with a very good response from the people,” highlights Errandonea.

Gipuzkoa, the locomotive

Gipuzkoa, a territory that has been gaining more weight in Couples every year, acts as a locomotive. Seven of those 15 sellouts have occurred in the territory and in different locations, which shows that the pull of this competition is not a matter of one or two specific places. Astelena de Eibar has starred in three of those full houses, while the rest have been Urretxu, Arrasate, Tolosa and Oiartzun. The Atano III in Donostia has not reached full capacity in any game, but in two of its three visits, with more than 1,400 spectators, it has almost been full, the same as the Gurea in Azkoitia or the Astelena this past Sunday. The Antzizar in Beasain, with just over half an entry on the opening day of this competition and the Beotibar in Tolosa, with less than half the capacity also on the first day, have been the venues that have recorded the poorest entry, although in the case of the Tolosa venue the influx has been growing during the development of the competition, going from 509 spectators on the first day, to 965 on the third day and to the full house with 1,250 seats. from this past Monday.

Of the rest of the frontons, the response of Adarraga stands out, where Parejas has returned four years later after the agreement with the Government of La Rioja. On the first day there was a little more than half an entry, but on the sixth the 1,400 seats were filled and for this Saturday there is no more paper left, just as happens in Valcarlos on Friday, where the fronton has a capacity of 750 spectators. «It is the first time that Valcarlos joins Parejas. They have a very nice facility, freshly painted, and tickets sold out in just over an hour. If you remove the Labrit, the Remontival of Estella and the Burunda of Altsasu, it is the fourth most important pediment in Navarra. I am sure that they will repeat it in the coming years”, forward Errandonea.

Bilbao’s response has also been positive because we must not forget that since the Bizkaia fronton is not available, the matches have been moved to the Deportivo, a venue traditionally where the game has been played with shovel but which on both visits has posted a no tickets sign.

The rest of the sell-outs in this Couples Championship have occurred in Amorebieta, Estella, Vitoria, Barañain and Durango.

So far, the match that has attracted the largest audience has been the one played in Ogueta de Vitoria, which filled its 1,980 seats to witness the match on the sixth day between Laso-Albisu and Altuna III-Ezkurdia. 1,600 fans attended the third day at the Navarra Arena, a venue with a capacity for 3,000 people where the final will be played on March 29. The 1,439 and 1,423 of the Atano III, the 1,100 of the Astelena on two occasions and the 1,000 of the same Eibar fronton and the Uarkape of Arrasate are the other fields that have managed to gather at least a thousand fans.

Three more full houses assured

There are 24 games left to play in this first phase and three of them are already sold out. Those mentioned from Valcarlos and Logroño this Friday and Saturday, respectively, and the one from Mungia on the tenth day on January 18. The one in Estella on the 17th of this month is on its way to being sold out – it would be its second full venue – while in the Sahatsaga in Getaria there are just over 60 seats left for the 23rd. And the semi-final group and the final still remain.

“We have had many requests to host matches and there are town councils that have had to stay away,” says Errandonea, confirming that in addition to good tickets, there is a lot of demand to host championship matches.

This good moment that the professional hand is going through, at least as far as the response of the fans is concerned, was one of the reasons given by the Pelotaris Association in its recent statement in which they showed their concern “about the direction that the management of professional baseball is taking.” It is the other side of success.m