Don't listen to that tool. He thinks that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and such teams are keeping the Toronto Argonauts and the CFL alive.
I just noticed the CSA office is simply 5 mins away from my residence, you think I should go donate some money for this operation?
This is definitely the case in Edmonton, but I am not hearing the same from other jurisdictions. I imagine that it could be occuring in Montreal which, like Edmonton, has a cavernous stadium to sell out. Perhaps Daniel can shed some light on it. Might be occuring in Ottawa, I suppose, I just don't know. I doubt though, that this is the case in Vancouver, Victoria, & Toronto as I would guess there would be more demand for full price tickets relative to the number of seat available.
Victoria has already given 10,000 passes to the SA's on the island. There won't be many ticket for sale to the general public. Same goes in Vancouver and Ottawa.
Montreal has 200k tickets sold (over 9 games). I think it's a mix of group sales and genuine interest from "real" soccer fans, but I don't believe many tickets were given away. A tournament pass for most of the stadium is 50$.
From an email sent out by the LOC: "Toronto venue on pace to sell out before FIFA U-20 World Cup! Ticket sales are on pace to sell out all nine match dates before the tournament begins on June 30. To date, six of the nine match dates in Toronto are sold out including the ceremonial tournament opener on Canada Day featuring Canada versus Chile; group matches on July 2, 5, and 8; the July 19 semifinal; and, the third place and Final matches on July 22. Overall, more than 91% per cent of tickets have been sold to matches at the National Soccer Stadium. Despite the fast sales, a limited number of match date tickets are still available for two round of 16 elimination matches and one quarter-final match through www.fifa.com or by calling 1-866-662-3452."
Where did this rumor start that tickets were being given away at a discount? I paid 800$ for my 5 tickets (the package) here in Montreal. Not to mention all my friends and family who also spent their hard earned money on their packages. Can't we just be proud that Canada is attending this tournament in record numbers? Instead of looking for reasons as to why these sales are fake..or inaccurate..or "padded".
I just read today that 825,000 tickets have been sold and remaining tickets are be sold at a rate of 2,000 per game. Virtually all tickets for Toronto are gone, so far Montreal has sold an average of 53,000 tickets per game.
Does anyone know about the Ottawa matches, if they will open up the other stand on the opposite side of the stadium if the demand is there? Seems silly that tickets are only being sold on one side. Thanks.
Unless you find a source, those numbers simply are a rumour (or downright false). Montreal has sold 53,000 for the OPENER and is at 35,000+ for a few other games.
My numbers are second hand, so I can't be absolutely certain of them myself I'll try and search for my source. 35K+ is still an incredible crowd for the U-20 World Cup. Weren't there games in 2005 with less than 10K?
Don't know how relevant that is even if its true... about the 2005 games. Where were they and how big were the venues? Who was playing? Was it a playoff game? If you give me a little more info I'll give the a little more credit for that tidbit of info.
It was in the Netherlands. There were games with less than 10K spectators because one of the stadiums was smaller than 10K seats. Among others Leo Messi and Jon Obi Mikel were featured. According to this site: http://www.answers.com/topic/2005-fifa-world-youth-championship Many of the games had under 10K spectators, some as little as 2K. The largest stadium used (in Utrecht) had less than 25K seats, the smallest (in Emmen) had fewer than 9K.
Using that same general site it appears the 2003 tournament (in UAE) had attendences that were rather unimpressive except for the opening game (46K) although I can't find attendance figures for the knock-out rounds. I couldn't find any attendence figures for the 2001 tournament (in Argentina) the '99 tournament (in Nigeria) the opening round games involving Nigeria had decent attendences, but only three games in the entire tournament had at least 35k fans (including the finals and the 3rd place game). The '97 tournament (in Malaysia) only had 4 games with at least 20k spectator (mostly involving Brazil, althought he final had 62k), the '97 tournament was quite the showing launching the likes of Thierry Henry, Michael Owen, David Trezeuet, Adailton, Stephen Appiah, Shunsuke Nakamura, Juan Roman Riquelme, Dwayne de Rosario, Marcelo Zalayeta, Damien Duff, Jamie Carragher and Esteban Cambiasso. Reminds me a little of the '96 NBA Draft (Iverson, Camby, Abdur-Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Ray Allen, Antoine Walker, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas). Back on topic. I couldn't find any attendence numbers for the '95 tournament (in Qatar), in the '93 Tournament (in Australia) the only games not involving Australia to attract over 20k were in the Semi-Finals, 3rd Place game and the Final. In '91, three games (all involving the hosts Portugal) attracted over 90k (including two over 100k with 127k watching the Portugal-Brazil final). Other than Portugal games not games had over 25k. For the '89 Tournament (Saudi Arabia) the only attendence figures I could find were for the Finals and 3rd placed game (both 65k). In the '87 Tournament (Chile) the only attendence figures were for the opening round group involving Chile. As is common games involving the hosts did well (between 60k and 75k) but other games were lacking (between 12k and 20k). I found no attendence figures for '85 (Soviet Union), '83 (Mexico), '81 (Australia), for '79 (Japan) the highest attendence figure I could find was group stage game between Japan and Algeria (32k). I couldn't find any attendence figures for the inaugural tournament in '77 (Tunisia). So this summer will best fabulously succesful with most games being sellouts and all games being well attended. Something no other U-20 World Cup can claim. On a positive note, Canada seems to routinely qualify for the U-20 WC. I only noticed a couple of tournaments that didn't involve Canada.
I imagine the thinking was: its better to have one stand full or nearly full, then to have 2 stands half-empty. BTW, I agree with that 100%. Not only does it create better atmosphere, but it likely increases the # of tickets sold.
It's insulting to us southsiders to have to sit in the north stand... They should have opened the south side lower deck instead of forcing people to sit in the upper corners of the north stand.
according to an article I read a month or so ago in I believe in a Ottawa paper's website, Mexico 83 had the largest total attendance of over 1.1 million. So, Canada is now 2nd in total attendance. I believe Portugal is 3rd as the portugese games attracted 90k+
in globe and mail... Brunt: World game finally embraced by Canadians STEPHEN BRUNT http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070620.brunt21/GSStory/GlobeSportsSoccer/home Now it's all taken for granted. Toronto FC effectively sells out its entire inaugural season in Major League Soccer. Tickets for the under-20 World Cup matches at BMO Field in Toronto have been almost all snapped up, as have 55,000 seats for the opening doubleheader at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.
Would you be kind enough to give me a link or provide more details as to where i can obtain these discounted/free Montreal tickets. I didn't pay 800$ for my tickets just so everyone else could get them for free/discounts. I'll just sell these tickets and get my free/discounted ones.