Sabah Lowers Ticket Prices and Switches Stadium Ahead of Champions League Playoff Against Hapoel Be'er Sheva

Sabah, the Azerbaijani football club set to face Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League playoff next Tuesday, has announced a stadium change and significantly reduced ticket prices. After Hapoel Be'er Sheva secured a 2-1 victory in the first leg, Sabah will host the return match at the larger Tofiq Bahramov Stadium in Baku, which holds 31,090 spectators, instead of their usual 8,600-seat Bank Respublika Arena. The Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, historically known as the Joseph Stalin Stadium, is the largest in Azerbaijan and home to both Sabah's rival Qarabağ and the national team.

The club expects over 15,000 fans to attend the match and is offering tickets at extremely low prices, starting at just one Azerbaijani manat (approximately 1.77 Israeli shekels). Other ticket tiers are priced at three and five manats (around 5.3 and 8.8 shekels respectively). This pricing strategy appears aimed at maximizing attendance and support for the crucial fixture. Should Sabah advance to the Champions League group stage, they stand to earn 18.62 million euros (about 65 million shekels), which could justify the low ticket costs.

The move and pricing reflect Sabah's determination to leverage home advantage and rally fan support in a high-stakes match against the Israeli club Hapoel Be'er Sheva, which has already taken a narrow lead in the playoff tie.