Secret Football Match Raises Over €140,000 From Livestream Ticket Sales

When it comes to MMA fights and boxing matches it is no secret that Pay-Per-View (PPV) ticket sales are a large part of the financial success or failure of an event. However, these events still rely heavily on the in-house ticket sales – not to mention that sweet profit margin gleaned from merchandise and food sales.

 Fourth Division Team Goes Viral

What did come as a massive surprise to fourth division German football team, Lokomotive Leipzig, was the more than 140,000 tickets they sold to a secret soccer match they will be live streaming on May 8th.

The local team with no more than 3000 supporters decided to raise funds in support of the club’s staff who had been hard hit by the current crisis and to cover facility costs. The idea was simple, they would play a fan-free match and raise funds by selling tickets to the live-streamed event for only €1 each.

 Don’t Despise Small Beginnings

What started as a small idea driven by the desire to help those in need has blossomed into an unparalleled online success story.

As news of this initiative spread through word of mouth and eventually jumped to social media, it captured the imaginations of not only local fans but the broader German soccer-loving community.

As is the nature of the internet local border did not slow the spread of this heart-warming initiative and the story gained traction with international media houses like the BBC, NBC Sports and ESPN pushing ticket sales well past the €140,000 mark.