Canada 2015 World Cup Organising Committee not Daunted by Failing to Reach Ticket Goal
June 26, 2015
The chief marketing officer of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup organising committee has told iSportconnect that it would not be a failure should the tournament not reach the goal of having 1.5 million spectators attend.
Sandra Gage was speaking to iSportconnect in Vancouver on Thursday the day before the quarter-finals were due to begin.
The NOC set the target of 1.5 million spectators before the tournament and things were looking promising when the opening match between Canada and China broke a national soccer record with 53,058 turning out in Edmonton on June 6.
But aside from Canada and US matches, attendances have struggled and empty seats have been seen all around.
Gage was still confident however of the whole tournament being seen as a success.
“Not at all [will be failure if target not reached]. Because in the end we have the largest attended FIFA event outside the men’s world cup. The one before was the FIFA U20 World Cup in Colombia in 2011 and we know we’re on target to pass that event.
“So we feel very confident, and if Canada and the US advances – and they could – then that would get us much closer to that target.”
The record for a national soccer match in Canada could be broken again on Saturday when the host nation takes on England in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
Signs outside the stadium show that hospitality packages are still on sale starting from $275, so there might still be a few empty seats on show if no-one takes up those offers.
TV Figures
Despite the low attendance at the stadiums however, the round of 16 did break TV records across key global markets, according to FIFA.
An average of 2.8 million viewers in Canada tuned in to CTV, TSN and RDS to watch the hosts beat Switzerland to book their quarter-final clash with England.
China’s victory over Cameroon, shown on CCTV in China, attracted an average audience of 5.0 million in the Round of 16. That figure is a new high for the 2015 competition so far and surpasses any Chinese audience from the 2011 edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
In Europe, French channel W9 broke its audience record during France’s win against Korea Republic, with an average of 2.8 million fans.
“These impressive viewing figures show just how popular the FIFA Women’s World Cup and women’s football are becoming all over the world,” said Niclas Ericson, FIFA’s Director of TV.
“We are looking forward to seeing even bigger television audiences as we move into the latter stages of the tournament.”
Blatter and Valcke Appearances
Meanwhile there is still no update on whether FIFA president Sepp Blatter or secretary general Jerome Valcke will travel to Canada.
When asked by iSportconnect if either would attend the final in Vancouver on July 5, a FIFA spokesperson said “the travel plans of the president and the secretary general will be confirmed in due course”.
Blatter and Valcke are in FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich dealing with the ongoing crisis amid corruption allegations and investigations by US and Swiss authorities.
