Lausanne HC: from serenity to sustainability

"A year ago today, I spoke for the first time as the new president. I was a supporter at the time, having taken over the club. Since then, the fan I was has become even more so. The president I wasn't then has become one. It's a series of discoveries!" Jean-Luc Rochat is a happy LHC boss. His club still loses a little money each year, it's true, but the structures of the Vaudoise Arena club are becoming more solid each year, in the wake of a sporting field that's almost at the top.

"The goal is to increase revenue. We've seen that the price of season tickets, which has skyrocketed, hasn't discouraged supporters," continued Patrick de Preux's successor. "There's also a lot of work to be done to reduce expenses. This 2025-2026 season will be important, because we want to move from the current serenity to sustainability. We're getting closer to the situation we're hoping for."

The LHC has nothing in common with the disarray of its organization three years ago. It's not certain that at the time, the Vaudoise Arena team would have been able to announce, as it did this Wednesday, the arrival for five years, starting in the 2026-2027 financial year, of one of the most sought-after defenders on the Swiss market, Michael Fora (29 years old, Davos). It also extended the contract of its sporting director, John Fust, until 2029.

"Not so long ago, in March 2023, we were laying the foundations for what would be a reconstruction," added Lausanne CEO Chris Wolf. "We didn't know how much it would take, but we had the ambition to do it. Today, the results are good from every point of view. On the sporting and management levels, our image has been restored. Our credibility is much better in Switzerland and in the world of hockey."