U20 World Cup - over 600,000 tickets sold

Discussion in 'Canada' started by alphamale111, Apr 17, 2007.

  1. Hansadyret

    Hansadyret Member

    Feb 20, 2007
    Bergen, Norway
    Club:
    SK Brann Bergen
    Looks like this tournament will be a huge success, and that canadiens are starting to take an interest in football(soccer). I will be surprised if Canada will not qualify for the world cup soon, maybe allready in South Africa. A few more canadian MLS clubs would help develop even more talent. Anyway good luck in qualifying for 2010.
     
  2. Moaca

    Moaca Member

    Mar 8, 2006
    If you build it, will they come?

    If you build it, will they come?
    By DEREK VAN DIEST -- Sun Media
    http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/2007/06/28/4297320-sun.html

    EDMONTON -- It's gonna be huge.

    At least that's the slogan. Whether the FIFA Under-20 World Cup turns out to be as big as anticipated remains to be seen. But things are heading in the right direction.

    "With the number of tickets forecast to be sold before and during the competition, it will probably be the second-highest attendance of any country that has hosted the event," Canadian Soccer Association president Colin Linford said. "Our numbers will probably be the second highest that the world have ever seen -- so that is huge."

    Soccer aficionados can appreciate the magnitude of the event. This is one of FIFA's marquee championships -- second perhaps only to the World Cup itself.

    "Normal Canadians as well as soccer followers are buying tickets which tells us something," Linford said. "I think this is big not just for soccer followers, but it|s big to many people, especially in some of the bigger cities. When you can get 52,000 to go out and watch a game in Montreal, that's big."

    The opening game will be played on June 30 with Poland going up against Brazil in Montreal. It's one of four games scheduled for that day. The final takes place July 22 in Toronto.

    "Every time there's a World Cup, there's an increase in player registration in this country because new people watch the game and then they decide it's a sport they want to participate in."

    Canada has traditionally done well at this age group and once made it as far as the quarter-finals of this tournament.

    "It's important that Canada do well to keep interest high, but it|s also important that Canada keep performing well at this age group," says Linford.

    Positive results by the Canadians should help ticket sales in Edmonton, where so far they've been less than expected.

    "Montreal has sold a lot of tickets, Toronto has sold out every game, the smaller areas like Burnaby and Victoria are obviously aware that this is probably the only opportunity they'll get to see players of this calibre and they're selling well," Linford said.

    "But, we're a little disappointed in Edmonton. There hasn't been the support there as of yet.

    "Maybe Edmonton is a walkup crowd; I don't know. Given the fact Canada is playing there, the numbers coming out of Edmonton are a lot less than we anticipated."


    Canada -- drawn in a group with Chile, Austria, and Congo -- will play two of their three group matches in Edmonton. Commonwealth Stadium -- the largest of the six venues -- will play host to nine matches, including two second-round games, a quarter-final and a semi-final.

    However some soccer fans in the city feel snubbed having seen the final awarded to Toronto and its newly-constructed stadium.

    "That decision was made 18 months ago and I would hate to think that people are still living in the past," Linford said.

    "We have to move forward and that's one of the issues we have with soccer in Canada -- we're constantly looking back as opposed to looking forward."
     
  3. CanuckFan

    CanuckFan Member

    Dec 13, 1999
    Calgary
    Club:
    FC Energie Cottbus
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    Re: If you build it, will they come?

    They must be selling pretty well as a block of just 4 seats was only available in the nose bleeds area two weeks ago. That was for July 8th matches.
     
  4. katatonic

    katatonic Member

    May 23, 2007
    Toronto
    Re: If you build it, will they come?

    U-20 World Cup ticket sales through the roof
    Organizers looking at the million mark
    CBC Sports
    http://www.cbc.ca/sports/fifau20/story/2007/06/28/sports-u20tickets.html

    Ticket sales for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada have surpassed the 940,000 mark, tournament organizers revealed at a Thursday night press conference in Toronto.

    Organizers expect the total spectator count for the tournament, which they are touting as the largest single-sport sporting event ever held in Canada, will eventually climb above the one-million mark with walk-up sales.

    The 1983 tournament in Mexico set the competition's all-time attendance record with 1.15 million fans passing through the turnstiles. The maximum number of tickets available for this summer's tournament in Canada is 1.3 million.

    Strong tickets sales and a successfully run tournament could help Canada secure hosting duties for other FIFA events in the future. The Canadian Soccer Association publicly stated that it wants to stage a FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.

    "FIFA can see how well this tournament is doing. They're delighted with the way things are going and in the future if any tournaments have a chance of coming back to Canada, we can go to them and say how well we ran the U-20 tournament," soccer commentator Craig Forrest told CBCSports.ca

    "I'm confident, for my money, this will be the most successful U-20 World Cup ever."
     
  5. katatonic

    katatonic Member

    May 23, 2007
    Toronto
    Re: If you build it, will they come?

    http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/6968202
     
  6. Taoism

    Taoism Member

    Apr 13, 2007
    Winnipeg, MB, Canada
    Re: If you build it, will they come?

    I didn't see the second game, but if the Brazil/Poland game was a sellout, I'll eat my hat. The stadium looked half empty to me (watching on TV).

    Cheers!
     
  7. Splatypus

    Splatypus New Member

    Apr 30, 2005
    Ottawa
    Re: If you build it, will they come?

    I was there and it was definitely not half empty, by half time in the first match there the only empty seats were at the extremities of the upper bowl.

    I can assure you it was sold out, that does not mean there were bums in seats 100% of the time over the double header but all tickets were sold.

    First picture is early on in the first match
    [​IMG]

    Second picture is early on in the 2nd match
    [​IMG]
     
  8. camilos

    camilos Member

    Feb 13, 2007
    Montreal
    Re: If you build it, will they come?

    I suggest you get a better TV.
     

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