KSS Energia Areena

About

The men's Superpesis is third most-watched men's sports league in Finland, and the women's league is the most-watched women's one. In 2021, Superpesis matches were streamed more than a million times on Ruutu, and larger matches are broadcast on national television on the channels of Nelonen Media and in 2024 also Yle.

Most popular in semi-urban and rural Finnish-speaking municipalities (most of them inland), along with some notability in larger cities like Tampere and Oulu, the pesäpallo matches gain a significant number of attendances compared to the population in the areas. The league (especially the men's league) has however had only limited presence in the largest coastal cities (e.g. Helsinki, Turku, or Pori ), where either the attendances are low or where no teams have been from.

In the 2023 season, the average of men's Superpesis match attendance was 1,381, and women's average match attendance was 661. This puts the league a bit behind the men's ice hockey 2023–24 Liiga (Average attendance: 4,568) and men's association football 2024 Veikkausliiga (Average attendance: 2,957).

The highest known match attendance between 2 clubs in the Superpesis era is 7,640, which was a match between Hyvinkään Tahko and Sotkamon Jymy in 1992.

In the 1980s, as Finnish society changed, the role of pesäpallo had to be re-examined. The sport had long drawn its strength from the countryside and village game culture, but with urbanisation, the rural population was dwindling and pesäpallo needed a new direction.

In the 1980s, the Finnish Pesäpallo Association launched the "Pesäpallo is the most Finnish Game" ( Finnish : Pesis on peleistä suomalaisin, POPS) project, which aimed to communicate the new future of pesäpallo to clubs, local politicians and the media. The project gave pesäpallo a social profile and practical marketing and visibility measures, as well as efforts to turn pesäpallo into a television product. Superpesis Oy was set up as the marketing organisation for the men's and women's main league clubs. At the same time, work began on improving conditions, including the development of match venues, the introduction of sand artificial turf fields and the construction of pesäpallo stadiums.

The marketing of pesäpallo was aimed at strengthening the sport's identity by emphasising its local character and roots. The aim was to bring baseball to the big cities, with the names of localities appearing in the league table instead of clubs. Pesäpallo clubs largely represented municipalities and entire provinces.

In the development of the game, the number of matches was increased, and new elements were introduced: additional batters (1985), play-offs (1987) and tie-breaks (1990). Pesäpallo evolved into a top sport, and the quantity and quality of training reached a high level. The game became more tactical and began to make use of statistics and data.

The first Superpesis season was played in 1990. With the new Superpesis, pesäpallo also gained a new dominant team when Sotkamon Jymy won the Finnish championship for the first time since 1963. Sotkamon Jymy was regularly ranked in the top three or higher for eight years and won six championships during the decade.

In 1994, pesäpallo moved to a period system, which revolutionised the scoring system in Superpesis. In the same season, Oulun Lippo became champion, the second most successful team in the 1990s. Lippo won two SM golds, one silver and one bronze. Kiteen Pallo -90 won its first championship in 1999. In 1996, a scoring contest was added to the game.

In the 1990s, pesäpallo became a nationwide phenomenon, with Superpesis becoming the most popular summer ball game in terms of viewership. Average attendance figures were high in both large and small towns, with peak attendance figures reaching between 6,000 and 7,000 spectators. The Superpesis matches were broadcast on MTV3, and the regular season matches were watched by more than 300,000 viewers at best. Real-time statistics of matches and the transmission of situations via teletext were major advances in the field of communication.

New pesäpallo stadiums were built in Sotkamo, Vimpeli, Seinäjoki, Oulu and many smaller towns and cities. Sand fields became part of the conditions required for Superpesis. In 1997, the Kaisaniemen Tiikerit were promoted to Superpesis by a cabinet decision to promote the metropolitan project; the team went on to fold 2 years later.

In the 1990s, pesäpallo moved to semi-professionalism in player salaries, with the best players becoming full professionals. In 1998, the pesäpallo community was rocked by a major match-fixing scandal known as "Black Thursday." The incident led to the loss of television coverage of Superpesis, and in the early 2000s, the value base and foundation of the sport was rebuilt. Pesäpallo returned to basics and on-field work.

The 2000s in Superpesis was mainly dominated by Sotkamon Jymy. The team was by far the strongest team in Superpesis during the decade. Kiteen Pallo -90 won the first championship of the decade, but the following year Sotkamo took revenge on Kitee and began their four-year championship season.

Kitee made a return to the gold medal in 2005, but Jymy returned as champions again in 2006 and 2009. Throughout the decade, Sotkamo Jymy played at least in the top three. During the decade, Pattijoen Urheilijat became champions for the first time in their history in 2008 and the club won several medals during the decade.

Kouvolan Pallonlyöjät and Joensuun Maila joined the main league during the decade. In 2001, the two-run rule and the batsman's skip rule were introduced in Superpesis, which brought game changes and increased the tacticality of the game.

From the big two to the big four (2010s)

In 2010, Superpesis experienced a new boom, which was significantly demonstrated by Jere Dahlström 's shot that clinched the championship for Vimpelin Veto being voted the most heartwarming sporting moment of 2010.

In the early 2010s, the power structure between the clubs became more stable. Sotkamon Jymy won the Finnish championship five times in a row between 2011 and 2015, always defeating Vimpelin Veto in the final. Vimpeli beat Sotkamo in the finals in 2016 and 2017, while Joensuun Maila won bronze in five consecutive years from 2013 to 2017. The early 2010s have been considered a dynasty, especially between Vimpeli and Sotkamo, whose encounters are known in Finnish as "El Klassikko", after the name of the El Clásico matches between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

After a long bronze medal season, Joensuun Maila became the leading pesäpallo club and won the Finnish championship in 2018 and 2019, while Kouvolan Pallonlyöjät established itself as the fourth largest club.