2019
THE QUESTION
For a long time, little attention was paid to the Swiss football cup. There was little public interest, especially in the early stages of the competition. There were also rarely any surprises. It was only from the semi-final onwards that the cup came alive and there was interest from football fans and the media. The Swiss Football Association has asked Hypercube in 2019 to develop a new cup competition.
HYPERCUBE’S SOLUTION
Clubs, journalists, TV parties, sponsors, fans, the association, national football icons: all stakeholders were involved in the process and were allowed to contribute ideas on improving the cup competition. The advice was formulated on the basis of data analyzes and discussions with all parties involved.
To generate more attention at the beginning of the competition, it was advised to play the first round regionally. All clubs fall within one of the five regions and are therefore assured of a derby in the first round. This resulted in a significant increase in spectator numbers and media attention.
In addition, it was advised to give the non-professional clubs the home right during the entire tournament. Because the underdogs’ chances of winning are greater when it is allowed to play at home, it is expected that David will emerge victorious from the battle with Goliath more often. Something that is highly appreciated in Switzerland, partly because it generates a lot of attention locally.
The third pillar of the advice was that the cup tournament was played in the weekends. As a result, some competition rounds are played during the week. Econometric analysis showed that in total this resulted in more spectators in the stadiums.
RESULT
Both the clubs and the association agreed with the advice. Since the 2021/22 season, the Swiss Cup has been played under the new structure.
