There’s still time before Finland hosts back-to-back home floorball championships, but preparations are already well underway. In May, the event appointed a Secretary General and an Event Director, and now an agreement has been signed for the commercialization of the championships.
Finland will exceptionally host two consecutive adult World Championships: the men’s tournament in 2026 and the women’s in 2027. The Finnish Floorball Federation will organize the events as a joint project.
Kai Ignatius, Jari-Pekka Jouppi, and Ari Rauhala have been chosen to lead the sales for the home championships. The trio will handle commercialization in cooperation with the Finnish Floorball Federation and SSBL Salibandy Oy.
All three have strong experience in sports marketing. Jari-Pekka Jouppi and Ari Rauhala were involved in partnership development for the 2020 Floorball World Championships, while Kai Ignatius has managed sponsorship collaborations with several federations and clubs.
“Two consecutive championships under a shared brand offer partners a unique opportunity for impactful activations. The previous championships showed that innovative and truly effective implementations can be built around floorball,” comments Jari-Pekka Jouppi.
The Men’s World Championships will take place in Tampere from December 5–13, 2026, culminating in the knockout stage at Nokia Arena, which seats 15,000 spectators. The Women’s World Championships will be held in Turku from December 3–11, 2027, with Gatorade Center as the main venue, seating nearly 12,000 spectators.
“The partner sales for the previous home championships were highly successful and demonstrated strong expertise and the ability to deliver the project successfully. We are delighted to have an experienced team leading the commercialization of the upcoming home championships. Together, we will create new models for partners to leverage the potential of the World Championships as part of their business. We look forward to working with Ari, Kai, and Jari-Pekka,” says Kati Voutilainen, Secretary General of the double championships.
Contact:
Kai Ignatius, +358 50 060 4531, kai.ignatius@salibandy.fi
Jari-Pekka Jouppi, +358 40 0803 713, jari-pekka.jouppi@salibandy.fi
Ari Rauhala, +358 40 556 1600, ari.rauhala@salibandy.fi