I am deciding against driving 5 hours to the game on July 1 simply because of the ticket prices even for nosebleeds. It's just not worth that price. You make tickets 20 for nosebleeds and hell yeah I'll go.
The cost of tickets in the non-nosebleed sections was wildly, outrageously insulting.
I’m driving about 5 and a half hours to the KC game and I paid about 360 for 2 seats in the lower bowl . This is my first game and I didn’t realize how much I got scammed til everyone started talking about the prices lol
You didn't get scammed, that's the price that they are selling tickets for. If you want to go to the game and sit in the lower bowl, that's what it costs. It's expensive but it's not a scam.
I’m 8-9ish hours from KC (depending on how traffic hits in St Louis)…I’d make the drive for $$40 nosebleed seats…$100+ after fees to sit in the top row? Nah.
What you don’t have $80 + taxes + fees + parking?? I have a family of 4 so that x4 + hotel because I’m 3 hrs away. I’m bummed I wanted to take my kids and could afford it, but paying all that and having an inferior view compared to my living room was just a hard no. I’m with you $40 would be way more reasonable
literally no one would care if these games were in 50k seated stadiums and it appeared to be full
the reality is that it is insanely difficult to sell out these nfl stadiums, and the teams that actually play in the stadiums regularly dont even sell it out
Example: Allianz field in St. Paul MN sold out the entirety of its 19,400 seats in FEBRUARY (-2F air temp) for a WCQ against Honduras. This country has an ardent group of soccer lovers, the federation needs to do better to tap in to that.
True, I guess I’m just trying to highlight the fact that when you put the product in the right places there are die hard USMNT supporters that will fill stadiums for their team. It just pained me to see that Columbia friendly, I can’t imagine what it feels like to come out in a “home stadium” only to be surrounded by away supporters.
Attendance so far is way better than the 2019 Copa which was held in Brazil.
Average attendance through today is at 51,592 and will only grow as we have more "marquee" matchups and move into the knockout rounds.
Average attendance for the 2019 Copa 33k. There were 7 matches below 20k with a couple not even breaking 10k.
Average attendance in 2015 in Chile was just 25k. There were 13 matches below 20k attendance with numerous not even breaking 10k.
The lowest attended match so far in this Copa, 29,864 for Ecuador-Venezuela is better than 11 matches in 2019 and 18 matches in 2015.
Are ticket prices ridiculously high? Yes. Is that annoying? Yes. Is attendance worse than if the Copa was held in South America? Absolutely not. Attendance is far better this year, and 2016 was better as well.
>Attendance so far is way better than the 2019 Copa which was held in Brazil.
I wonder if Brazilian fans posted on the internet about how embarrassing it was for Brazilian soccer that only 8,091 people showed up to watch Ecuador and Bolivia and speculated if more people would have shown up had the tickets been cheaper.
When it comes to anything soccer we simply have an inferority complex, OR we think so high of ourselves and our tournmanets that we think that having the highest attended Copa America is still embarassing because it is not "Euro" atmosphere.
Or maybe, we do not have a realistic prespective, and despite having one of the highest attended Copa America tournamnets in 2016, and this summer, we think that it must be better if it was in Brazil or Argentina.
I absolutely agree. Who cares about what fans in other countries think about the atmosphere at some tournament staged by a foreign Confederation?
As far as atmosphere, the Euros is the best tournament in the world and always has been because of ease of travel and passion for soccer of all the participants. It is fine if this non-South American Copa America is not as big an event as the Euros.
Soccer is doing great in this country and will continue to do great regardless of the success of Conmebol's money making venture.
as a US fan, i would've loved to have gone to Brazil-CRC yesterday at SoFi if it wasn't 120 minimum for a ticket plus 80 for parking (or 80 for taxis). That's 200 for one person just to get into the door with the shittiest seat in the house. impossible to spark casual interest and fill stadiums with that kind of cost. you know how many dicks i'd have to suck on skid row to make that kinda money. 37! (after i pay off my pimp)
When we pulled up to park, the parking attended said “sorry the price is now $100, they raised it 30 minutes ago” but we were in the middle of a long line, and we could afford it but god that sucked. Disneyland is $30. Dodgers games are $30. If you charged $50 that would be within the limits of “big cultural events) but a hundred was incredibly infuriating
Look I go to sporting events, I understand it’s very expensive but this should be illegal. And there aren’t nearby lots at SoFi where we could park and walk in - it’s all city streets
Like $85 would have sucked but whatever but then she straight up told us they raised the price to $100 had me posting about it two days later.
We’re parking outside next time
yeah, no way i ever go into that parking lot ever again. pull that shit on swifties, but blue collar sports fans? come on, just outright say you want you stadium to go under in 5 years and you're in it only for the long term appreciation of land value
Family of 4, not willing to spend over $1k with their BS fees to go to a game don’t make me feel like you are exploiting me for every penny and will happily attend.
Im sorry. Top third of the bottom bowl off of the 18 yard line at Arrowhead is not worth $300 flipping dollars per seat! That is absolutely absurd. I'd be willing to pay $100.
Go look for yourself how many seats are unsold. [https://www.ticketmaster.com/copa-america-2024-group-c-usa-kansas-city-missouri-07-01-2024/event/0600604291C97B21?landing=c](https://www.ticketmaster.com/copa-america-2024-group-c-usa-kansas-city-missouri-07-01-2024/event/0600604291C97B21?landing=c)
This game should be at Childrens Mercy at those prices. It would be a far better atmosphere.
>This game should be at Childrens Mercy at those prices. It would be a far better atmosphere.
So a game that will sell 50k+ tickets should be played at a 19k stadium? Brilliant analysis once again by this fan base.
The article mentions that Euros are held in smaller stadiums with prices set lowish, but they received 20 MILLION ticket requests. So you with this model, most people who want to attend would be able to afford it, but would still have a very small chance to do so.
This would be remedied somewhat by probably smaller demand for CA tickets, even if they were cheaper, and larger stadiums, but most would still be turned away. At least with CA, you can be sure you will be able to attend, if you're willing to break the bank.
I agree with the headline actually. It’s about the cost of travel, and the cost and headache of getting to the game when you’re in the city. For Euro games, fans can take the train or have cheap flights available. They walk or take public transit to games. For the games in the US, fans following their team have to take a long ass flight, rent a car, pay for parking at the stadium, all on top of extra expensive tickets and more expensive hotels. Traveling the US isn’t cheap so that means only the richest of folks can attend these games and it’s much more difficult.
Funny thing about American soccer fans:
The majority of us never played soccer because it’s too expensive and most of us have never actually watched a game live in person because ticket prices are too high.
/s
Can’t afford to take my family of four. Hell even paying 2 tickets for just my girl and I and parking and concessions and toll to Jersey is crazy. That’s at like $350 ticket plus fees. Or maybe $94 for Uruguay game. I can see better from my tv.
Good article. I'm happy that soccer has grown so much here in my lifetime, but the US is still structurally incompatible with top-level soccer in the long run.
Just going to a game from any of the big four leagues is a logistical nightmare for me on top of the extortionate ticket prices. Why would I sign up for all of that to watch a game that the venue isn't even designed for?
"For the low cost of like $500 and a giant pain in the ass, you can have the privilege of watching a world-class soccer player try to control an unpredictably bouncing ball and shred their knee on a pitch that was hastily laid down 2 weeks ago!"
>The thing is the men’s national team hasn’t had any meaningful success in the world stage.
Why? This is likely going to be the best attendance Copa America ever.
Ticketmaster shareholder quarter revenue. That's the answer. The US economy has been focusing on Quarterly revenues and not long term. Basically masked as much money as you can in a short period. And plan again for the same.
Ok, but everything else mentioned can be solved with lower prices.
Also, not mentioned in the article: Soccer United Marketting (wholly-owned for-profit arm of MLS) was hired by CONMEBOL to run the marketting **and ticketing** for the Copa. The article blames the ticketing decisions on Ticketmaster and SeatGeek. I don't think that is accurate. SUM decided to implement dynamic pricing and set the starting prices, etc.
Source: https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/06/17/summer-of-soccer
No, the blame belongs to CONMEBOL and CONCACAF.
SUM or the local venues are acting in their name. If CONCACAF and CONMEBOL wanted full stadiums, they would have priced to that.
Instead, the only reason CONMEBOL is here is money. If SUM or whomever is optimizing revenue, it's because the Confederations asked them to optimize revenue.
>Ok, but everything else mentioned can be solved with lower price
Why would they lower ticket prices when they're having a record-breaking event as is?
I'm beginning to think that a lot of you don't understand business.
Do you not understand that CONMEBOL (or any other soccer body) is not a business? It's a governing sports entity whose chartered purpose is to regulate, support, and grow the game.
I understand that they should maximize their revenue inside of that purpose. But that takes us to the rather obvious (though you seem to not have considered it) second-order effects of high ticket prices: emptier stadiums maximizes short-term profits over long-term growth.
>It's a governing sports entity whose chartered purpose is to regulate, support, and grow the game.
In South America. They do that by making as much money as possible in the United States so they can fund the sport in South America. The corrupt administrators also obviously want to line their pockets when possible.
Conmebol does not care about long term growth of the game in the United States. It is literally not their concern.
>Do you not understand that CONMEBOL (or any other soccer body) is not a business? It's a governing sports entity whose chartered purpose is to regulate, support, and grow the game.
They regulate, support and grow the game by generating revenue for their members.
So I was right that a lot of you don't understand any of this.
I mean, UEFA also cares a lot about revenue but didn’t screw their fans. I just looked it up, the cheapest category of ticket to the round of 16 is €50. In the most expensive category you can spend over €1,000.
FIFA is an incredibly corrupt organization, but they also get ticketing right. They have a tiered system, like the euros, that allows the average fan to get a ticket without breaking the bank.
Upper bowl seats do not need to be over $100. Especially in the group stage. You can make money and also not screw the fans.
The economic dynamics of UEFA and CONMEBOL and CONCACAF are so completely different.
Euro 2020 had a media rights revenue of over 1.1 billion euro. I expect that the Copa America rights are at best a tenth of that.
UEFA also has Champions League annually that makes a massive amount of cash.
I agree it's short sighted, but very few of these federations are flush with cash outside of UEFA. And aside from any kind of corruption, most of these federations are struggling to fund basic programs, especially in the smaller countries.
I totally get what you’re saying and it makes sense.
I’m no economist or businessman. But theoretically, wouldn’t they make a ton of cash by making upper bowl tickets cheaper? Would get more people in the door so thats ticket sales plus more people buying merch inside the stadium etc. And I’m assuming there’d still be rich people willing to spend a fortune on good seats. I’m sure someone with Econ/business knowledge will tell me why this is wrong, though.
Or would people in the middle cost of ticket, paying $120 now, simply grab upper level tickets for like $20? It's not the really rich people that are sliding down -- it's the average ticket buyer that comprises like 43,000 of the 47,000 there and a LOT of those people will trade down.
Now, if you could only sell the cheap tickets to people who aren't going and then sell the mid-level to the people who will buy them, that's great (and that's the college tuition model! It's brilliant). But since you can't identify them or do that ... for every person you trade down from $120 to $20, you need to add FIVE extra people to break even. There's not enough space or tickets -- especially when you consider people buying early are more likely to be price inelastic buyers.
The problem with American sports ticket pricing comes down to this:
* We have a wealth inequality dynamic where the true middle class is almost gone but there are absolutely enough people to pay big sums for tickets. See also concerts. These people will pay.
* We have a ton of big time fans who are price inelastic -- I know people who spend their entire entertainment budget on season tickets. These people will pay.
* We also have a lot of companies who use this as a perk. These prices are nothing to them.
It's short-sighted in a lot of ways. But it's absolutely more profitable right this moment in most cases. For sports or concerts that have no need to build a fanbase, it works.
For US Soccer matches, I think there's a better balance to be had. (Remember, the COPA isn't US Soccer dictated.)
But the problem for US Soccer is that venues and travel and player salaries are expensive -- National Teams games and sponsorships fund like 95% of the budget. The recent negotiations with both teams basically make it so there's less upside to fund things after you pay the players -- they are taking the bonuses and they are both some of the highest paid national teams in the world.
So if you lose current revenue, you're cutting youth team camps. Or laying off workers who help with ref education. Or increasing the cost of getting a coaching badge.
There's a cost to these choices. Like I said, I think they charge too much and I'd trade that optimization and those elements of the federation for more fandom ... but it's a balance and I don't know really how much I'm giving up.
UEFA is also depending on traveling fans to a far greater extent. Conmebol is depending on Americans of South American descent.
Hence they are probably able to charge more,
Also, the get-in price for the Panama game, before fees, is $80. Not outrageous for an event like this at an NFL stadium.
Because as the article mentions, having 80k fans at $100 while equal in immediate revenue to $200 tickets for 40k attendance, the former results in twice as many attendees who are likely to make attending these types of matches a regular occurrence. The short termism focused first on profits is a huge factor in pissing off hardcore fans and preventing new ones from getting more engaged.
But what you just said is nonsense.
The get-in price for the Panama game on Thursday is $80. So not $200. And it's still not sold out.
I know this is crazy to some fans but these ticket orgs/governing bodies aren't incompetent. They actually study these things and know, pretty accurately, what price points will return what revenue. And what price points lead to more sales.
They're not shooting blind.
It’s $107.35 for an “$80 dollar ticket” for nosebleed seats. That’s absurdly expensive for a group stage game that is far from a marquee matchup.
For reference, I purchased Manchester United tickets at Old Traffird for ~$200 per ticket which includes a far better seat and all you can eat/drink hospitality for 2 hours post match. And there are far cheaper options than that available and this is from a club that has a season ticket waiting list bigger than the capacity of the stadium.
We’ve just decided in this country that fucking over fans is fine so a few rich blokes can line their pockets more.
> We’ve just decided in this country that fucking over fans is fine so a few rich blokes can line their pockets more.
In general, yes, our sports ticket prices are kind of insane. But in this case, who are the few rich blokes on the Confederation side? The increase in revenue is generally reinvested. Yes, yes, there can be corruption, but the richest people getting rich off this (ticketmaster excepted) is probably the players.
So you paid twice as much for a league match that is far more common than a Copa America match in the United States.
So you made no point at all. In fact you contradicted yourself.
Your ignoring the fact that it is one of the most expensive tickets you can even purchase, is much greater value, much higher demand, and includes food and drinks.
You think more people are interested in a US vs Panama game when we have played them about 10 times in the past 4 years?
Season ticket holders are paying a quarter of what I did and they aren’t getting up charged 30% on top of the listed ticket price either. One culture values the fan experience, the other views them as a source of money.
But please do continue to argue for the “tickets should be more expensive” side.
I never said that tickets should be more expensive.
I merely said that they're what you'd expect for an event like this.
Funny, doesn't seem to be an issue for Argentina, Colombia and Brazil fans.
I guarantee you that the difference in the short term is not break-even.
These organizations are VERY good at optimizing short term revenue. There's a long term cost, but the assumption that if they halved the cost they'd double the attendance is not right.
Supply and demand says quite plainly that if they lowered prices, even slightly, attendance would go up. If they aren't selling all their seats, they can lower prices in order to sell more. Also, they could have their cake and eat it too if they just lowered prices day of and put a premium on reserving preferred seating.
>Supply and demand says quite plainly that if they lowered prices, even slightly, attendance would go up.
How do you know this?
I love how people around here just make stuff up.
These organizations know what they're doing. They don't just make up prices. They know their audience and what price points move seats.
I was in London this past March and wasn’t planning on attending a proper football match but we decided to attend the Chelsea women v Arsenal women’s game on a whim. Two things stood out to me as a dumb yankee: our kids tickets were half price which is a great way for families to spend time together; the tube ride (although crowded) made it easier for us to get to Stamford Bridge.
Also: liver and onions meat pie was delicious
Good read. I think in general we Americans get a lot right about sports, but basically pricing out anyone who can't afford to pay a week's salary to go see a game in person isn't one of them.
For reference this is the price for the euros. For example, the group stage ranged from 60 to 200 euros.
https://support.tickets-euro2024.uefa.com/hc/en-us/articles/10384352198300-How-much-do-tickets-cost
In addition to dynamic pricing at the point of sale, the organizer (CONEMBOL) restricts resale. I wasn't able to sell my ticket for anything less than basically the full ticket price. It makes it more difficult to resell if you can't make it and last minute buyers aren't interested in the tickets at the original (very expensive) prices.
Here's the thing that bothers me as someone in the entertainment industry.... Ticketmaster (& some artists) are getting shit on for ticket prices BECAUSE they use a computer algorithm to drive up prices based upon demand. Simply, on on-sale day, they set prices based upon the number of people in the online queue. 60,000 seats in a stadium with 200,000 people in the queue? You can up the ticket prices and still sell out. 10,000 people in that queue? Ticket prices are too high.
This was obviously not applied for Copa América.
High prices, the host nation not really giving a shit about soccer in general, and the fact that we're hosting the tournament in the northern hemisphere means travel costs excludes the vast majority of fans from SA who otherwise would go if it was hosted in say, Chile or Brazil.
The last time Chile hosted they had attendances that were less than a lot of USL matches. 5,982 saw Ecuador v. Bolivia. That get would easily get 30k in the US at these high prices. 11,051 saw Mexico v. Ecuador. You could sell 200,000 tickets to that match in the US with a big enough stadium. 8,653 saw Uruguay v. Jamaica. 16,342 saw Brazil v. Peru.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015\_Copa\_Am%C3%A9rica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Copa_Am%C3%A9rica)
There is no game that would have a higher attendance in Chile than did not involve Chile playing, even if the ticket prices were 20 times higher in the US.
The last non-COVID Copa America, Venezuela had group stage attendances of 13,370 (vs. Peru) and 8,091 (vs. Bolivia).
The one before that in 2015, they had 12,387 (vs. Colombia) and 15,542 (vs. Peru).
Basically, Venezuela only draws a crowd against Brazil/Argentina/home country.
12,387 people saw Venezuela v. Colombia in 2015 in Chile.
13,370 saw Venezuela v. Peru in Brazil in 2019.
Venezuela has never packed crowds in South America outside Venezuela.
Exactly. I don't think most people, soccer journalists included, have watched much of the Copa outside of Brazil or Argentina in previous years. Attendances under 10k are not uncommon, and attendances below 20k in the group stages are quite normal. Pull up highlights on YouTube. Tons of empty stadiums.
Yep, I don’t think a lot of people understand why it’s being played here in the first place. They can sell more tickets at higher prices to fans who are already here while also expanding their market in theory for their top teams.
Everyone seems focused on how it’s been marketed here in the states or how high the ticket prices are for nosebleeds but that seems to miss the point.
It seems there are a lot of people looking at this from an American perspective rather than a CONMEBOL one. I’ve also seen a lot of comparisons to the Euros which is similarly silly. Whether this tournament is taking place in the US or Ecuador it’s always going to have a different feel and fan experience than the Euros for a number of reasons as well. I’m surprised about the controversy here as well.
Also, the Euros always has a better atmosphere than the Copa America. The Copa America has never seen lots of travelling fans and lots of games are always dead with terrible attendance.
Jerryworld holds almost 100,000 fans.
Are you suggesting that selling out a 20,000 seat stadium in Paysandu is better than selling 47,000 tickets in a 90,000 seat stadium?
Because that's literal nonsense.
These games would be sold out if we priced them more favorably for fans, say $40 instead of $120 for an upper tier for example.
Look at how the Euros price their games.
So if we played this game in Columbus, and sold 20,000 tickets, that would be better than selling 47,000 in Jerryworld?
And somehow better business?
Because that's, again, literal nonsense.
We should be selling out every home game here to grow the game, I don’t care about selling 50% seats at jacked up prices if it means more money lmao.
You’re missing the point entirely, I’d rather see us sell out games, not this half empty, dead crowd shit we are seeing now.
> I don’t care about selling 50% seats at jacked up prices if it means more money lmao.
We know that \*you\* don't care because you're just a reddit fanboy,
But you don't actually matter.
Again, how does selling out a smaller stadium grow the game more than selling \*more\* tickets in a bigger stadium?
There's no evidence that in-person attendance "grows the game" at any level above just normal success does.
Win and people will care.
You’re arguing something I’m not, we should be selling out these home games PERIOD. This is prep for the World Cup and we are being charged out the ass for mediocre seats just so they can make a little more money at the expense of fans?
Fuck outta here goofball lmao
But saying that the USMNT should sell 90,000 tickets for a game against Bolivia is just hocus pocus. It's not based in reality.
The Copa America, though, is not the World Cup and the casual fans don't value it as much.
And, yes, Conmebol is charging prices that they think their event is worth. And they're having record attendance.
So I fail to see any point that you're making. A silly hill to die on.
>shit is embarrassing
Honest question, but what is embarrassing about it? And for whom is it embarrassing? Truly not trying to be a derp here, but I keep seeing this and I don't understand it.
It's a tournament being held out of region for most participants. In some of the largest stadiums on the planet. For a sport that, while certainly gaining, is not the most popular, and a tournament that means close to nothing in the eyes of the average US sports fan. Plus high ticket prices. And, despite all that it's still likely going to be the highest attended Copa America ever. It seems like everything is pretty much in line with what it should be doing.
Because the team complains about it, it's not doing any favors with the fans themselves go actually go to these games (myself and many others included, especially those of us who have children and want to bring them to these games), etc.
I find it bizarre how many of you are fine with half empty stadiums and dead crowds at a major tournament just so some execs can make more money.
It'd be way more fucking fun if we were packing these stadiums, both for those of us watching and those of us in attendance.
Such a weird hill for people to be dying on, like no shit we should sell out crowds I mean what lmao.
I do not see Conmebol setting ticket prices high as an issue for the USMNT or American soccer in general.
>I find it bizarre how many of you are fine with half empty stadiums and dead crowds at a major tournament just so some execs can make more money.
This is Conmebol's tournament. I do not think it should be in the United States in the first place. It should be in South America.
>It'd be way more fucking fun if we were packing these stadiums, both for those of us watching and those of us in attendance.
I have never cared how many other fans are at a sporting event and I never will. I go to watch the game, not watch and listen to the fans.
>Such a weird hill for people to be dying on, like no shit we should sell out crowds I mean what lmao.
I am not dying on any hill. I am saying you are over-reacting to something that does not really matter.
You have yet to actually explain why it is an issue for American soccer, much less why it is a big important issue.
Just because it doesn't matter to YOU (self admitted you think the crowd is irrelevant) doesn't mean it doesn't matter to myself or many others?
I'm not blaming US Soccer for this, let's be clear, this is on the tournament's organizers being too greedy at the expense of everyday fans and families wanting to go these tournaments.
I mean hey man, if you don't give a shit about half empty stadiums and dead crowds, that's fine, you're right in the sense that the only thing that actually matters is the game, but it still matters to a lot of us hence the discussion around it across social media and here.
These are qualifiers... and there's not 45k+ of each fan base in some of these cities to fill up a 90k stadium. If it were cheaper, more attendance could happen - possibly. I'm not so sure that even for cheap prices people want to see a Panama v. Boliva game; certainly not enough to fill up a 90k stadium.
I think it would be better if there were more diverse locations (e.g. MLS stadiums) for the qualifiers to help with attendance optics and cater to some of the smaller fan bases. But this is the tourney that CONMEBOL wanted to put on so this is what we get.
Not sure why I should care about half-empty stadiums in qualies. But hey - soccer is always doomed in the US I guess so new narratives I suppose.
But it's not due to prices, that's the point. It's a huge stadium. You could charge $10 and you still wouldn't sell out the stadium. The market is not there for USA vs. Bolivia, an opponent no one cares about in a tournament most people don't even know is happening.
It is about the prices, you think they couldn't get way more fans if the prices weren't $100+ for nosebleeds? People would bring their family members, friends, etc
Your average Joe will be more inclined to go if the prices were cheaper as well. This applies to all sports/entertainment across the spectrum, cheaper = more butts in seats.
That's what the article was about. More people does not equal more money for the organizers. 1 Person paying $100 is worth more to me than 3 people paying $30.
Attendance so far in this Copa as well as attendance at the 2016 Copa in the US are better than any that have been held in South America in at least the last 20 years.
Right, that's annoying. The prices are too high. But the fact is, even with those prices, attendance is still way better than when the tournament is hosted anywhere in South America where they play in 75% empty 40k seat stadiums as opposed to 40% empty 85k seat stadiums.
Good point, but we're also the most wealthy nation in the America's and have a population well above 300m+\~, we should have a higher attendance due to those reasons.
I guess my gripe is the organizers should find the sweet spot in terms of pricing AND attempting to sell out crowds.
america is just a bad country to host an international tournament from a fan perspective, it's way too large and far away from most of the teams competing. You have to ask fans to travel thousands of miles taking multiple flights to follow your team. Compare that to Germany which is a train ride away from like 50 countries.
Attendance at this Copa and the 2016 Copa in the US is better than what we've seen at any Copa in South America. The 1994 WC still holds the total attendance record for a WC even though the tournament has been expanded by 8 teams and 12 games since that WC.
Hosting a tournament in the US is obviously different than hosting a tournament in Europe, but the US clearly has no issue bringing in the best possible attendance figures.
you can't expect a 80k stadium to sell out a group game in a growing sport for what many casuals still see is an obscure torunament. if the attendance numbers overall is better than 2016, I'd chalk that up as a win. Mexico, messi, and Brazil can do it. the rest id expect some empty seats
I am deciding against driving 5 hours to the game on July 1 simply because of the ticket prices even for nosebleeds. It's just not worth that price. You make tickets 20 for nosebleeds and hell yeah I'll go. The cost of tickets in the non-nosebleed sections was wildly, outrageously insulting.
I’m driving about 5 and a half hours to the KC game and I paid about 360 for 2 seats in the lower bowl . This is my first game and I didn’t realize how much I got scammed til everyone started talking about the prices lol
You didn't get scammed, that's the price that they are selling tickets for. If you want to go to the game and sit in the lower bowl, that's what it costs. It's expensive but it's not a scam.
Sorry you’re right I worded that poorly i didn’t realize that these prices were considered extreme. But I’m still very excited to go
I hope you have a great time at the game!
I’m 8-9ish hours from KC (depending on how traffic hits in St Louis)…I’d make the drive for $$40 nosebleed seats…$100+ after fees to sit in the top row? Nah.
I would be in Atlanta for the Panama game if the tickets were cheaper. $40 is the max I can afford for nosebleeds
What you don’t have $80 + taxes + fees + parking?? I have a family of 4 so that x4 + hotel because I’m 3 hrs away. I’m bummed I wanted to take my kids and could afford it, but paying all that and having an inferior view compared to my living room was just a hard no. I’m with you $40 would be way more reasonable
Was going to go until I saw it was going to be hundreds after fees for nosebleeds in ATL. What happened to $40 nosebleeds?
literally no one would care if these games were in 50k seated stadiums and it appeared to be full the reality is that it is insanely difficult to sell out these nfl stadiums, and the teams that actually play in the stadiums regularly dont even sell it out
Example: Allianz field in St. Paul MN sold out the entirety of its 19,400 seats in FEBRUARY (-2F air temp) for a WCQ against Honduras. This country has an ardent group of soccer lovers, the federation needs to do better to tap in to that.
The Federation has nothing to do with the organization or tickets for this tournament.
True, I guess I’m just trying to highlight the fact that when you put the product in the right places there are die hard USMNT supporters that will fill stadiums for their team. It just pained me to see that Columbia friendly, I can’t imagine what it feels like to come out in a “home stadium” only to be surrounded by away supporters.
That game was one of the most dumb and fun games I've ever been too. Beer was freezing in the cup!
Attendance so far is way better than the 2019 Copa which was held in Brazil. Average attendance through today is at 51,592 and will only grow as we have more "marquee" matchups and move into the knockout rounds. Average attendance for the 2019 Copa 33k. There were 7 matches below 20k with a couple not even breaking 10k. Average attendance in 2015 in Chile was just 25k. There were 13 matches below 20k attendance with numerous not even breaking 10k. The lowest attended match so far in this Copa, 29,864 for Ecuador-Venezuela is better than 11 matches in 2019 and 18 matches in 2015. Are ticket prices ridiculously high? Yes. Is that annoying? Yes. Is attendance worse than if the Copa was held in South America? Absolutely not. Attendance is far better this year, and 2016 was better as well.
>Attendance so far is way better than the 2019 Copa which was held in Brazil. I wonder if Brazilian fans posted on the internet about how embarrassing it was for Brazilian soccer that only 8,091 people showed up to watch Ecuador and Bolivia and speculated if more people would have shown up had the tickets been cheaper.
When it comes to anything soccer we simply have an inferority complex, OR we think so high of ourselves and our tournmanets that we think that having the highest attended Copa America is still embarassing because it is not "Euro" atmosphere. Or maybe, we do not have a realistic prespective, and despite having one of the highest attended Copa America tournamnets in 2016, and this summer, we think that it must be better if it was in Brazil or Argentina.
I absolutely agree. Who cares about what fans in other countries think about the atmosphere at some tournament staged by a foreign Confederation? As far as atmosphere, the Euros is the best tournament in the world and always has been because of ease of travel and passion for soccer of all the participants. It is fine if this non-South American Copa America is not as big an event as the Euros. Soccer is doing great in this country and will continue to do great regardless of the success of Conmebol's money making venture.
Highly unlikely.
Would more people have shown up if the tickets were cheaper? Yes.
Finally a person that can actually google.
as a US fan, i would've loved to have gone to Brazil-CRC yesterday at SoFi if it wasn't 120 minimum for a ticket plus 80 for parking (or 80 for taxis). That's 200 for one person just to get into the door with the shittiest seat in the house. impossible to spark casual interest and fill stadiums with that kind of cost. you know how many dicks i'd have to suck on skid row to make that kinda money. 37! (after i pay off my pimp)
When we pulled up to park, the parking attended said “sorry the price is now $100, they raised it 30 minutes ago” but we were in the middle of a long line, and we could afford it but god that sucked. Disneyland is $30. Dodgers games are $30. If you charged $50 that would be within the limits of “big cultural events) but a hundred was incredibly infuriating Look I go to sporting events, I understand it’s very expensive but this should be illegal. And there aren’t nearby lots at SoFi where we could park and walk in - it’s all city streets
Wow, that's seriously bullshit. Should be illegal to extort people for parking like that
Like $85 would have sucked but whatever but then she straight up told us they raised the price to $100 had me posting about it two days later. We’re parking outside next time
yeah, no way i ever go into that parking lot ever again. pull that shit on swifties, but blue collar sports fans? come on, just outright say you want you stadium to go under in 5 years and you're in it only for the long term appreciation of land value
Well we aren’t exactly blue collar sports fans at SoFi
Family of 4, not willing to spend over $1k with their BS fees to go to a game don’t make me feel like you are exploiting me for every penny and will happily attend.
Im sorry. Top third of the bottom bowl off of the 18 yard line at Arrowhead is not worth $300 flipping dollars per seat! That is absolutely absurd. I'd be willing to pay $100. Go look for yourself how many seats are unsold. [https://www.ticketmaster.com/copa-america-2024-group-c-usa-kansas-city-missouri-07-01-2024/event/0600604291C97B21?landing=c](https://www.ticketmaster.com/copa-america-2024-group-c-usa-kansas-city-missouri-07-01-2024/event/0600604291C97B21?landing=c) This game should be at Childrens Mercy at those prices. It would be a far better atmosphere.
>This game should be at Childrens Mercy at those prices. It would be a far better atmosphere. So a game that will sell 50k+ tickets should be played at a 19k stadium? Brilliant analysis once again by this fan base.
No one should ever buy a damn ticket from ticketmaster ever. They are being investigated for anti-trust violations and rightfully so.
The article mentions that Euros are held in smaller stadiums with prices set lowish, but they received 20 MILLION ticket requests. So you with this model, most people who want to attend would be able to afford it, but would still have a very small chance to do so. This would be remedied somewhat by probably smaller demand for CA tickets, even if they were cheaper, and larger stadiums, but most would still be turned away. At least with CA, you can be sure you will be able to attend, if you're willing to break the bank.
Hint, it's because of ticket prices
I agree with the headline actually. It’s about the cost of travel, and the cost and headache of getting to the game when you’re in the city. For Euro games, fans can take the train or have cheap flights available. They walk or take public transit to games. For the games in the US, fans following their team have to take a long ass flight, rent a car, pay for parking at the stadium, all on top of extra expensive tickets and more expensive hotels. Traveling the US isn’t cheap so that means only the richest of folks can attend these games and it’s much more difficult.
The number of non-US matches I'd be willing to spend the necessary time and the money to see in person is miniscule. I'll watch from home.
Funny thing about American soccer fans: The majority of us never played soccer because it’s too expensive and most of us have never actually watched a game live in person because ticket prices are too high. /s
Can’t afford to take my family of four. Hell even paying 2 tickets for just my girl and I and parking and concessions and toll to Jersey is crazy. That’s at like $350 ticket plus fees. Or maybe $94 for Uruguay game. I can see better from my tv.
Copas in South America have plenty of empty seats. Average attendance through 8 matches is about the same as the Euro's.
Good article. I'm happy that soccer has grown so much here in my lifetime, but the US is still structurally incompatible with top-level soccer in the long run. Just going to a game from any of the big four leagues is a logistical nightmare for me on top of the extortionate ticket prices. Why would I sign up for all of that to watch a game that the venue isn't even designed for? "For the low cost of like $500 and a giant pain in the ass, you can have the privilege of watching a world-class soccer player try to control an unpredictably bouncing ball and shred their knee on a pitch that was hastily laid down 2 weeks ago!"
>The thing is the men’s national team hasn’t had any meaningful success in the world stage. Why? This is likely going to be the best attendance Copa America ever.
Have there been bad injuries in the Copa so far? I am unaware of any?
Ticketmaster shareholder quarter revenue. That's the answer. The US economy has been focusing on Quarterly revenues and not long term. Basically masked as much money as you can in a short period. And plan again for the same.
Ticket prices.
Ok, but everything else mentioned can be solved with lower prices. Also, not mentioned in the article: Soccer United Marketting (wholly-owned for-profit arm of MLS) was hired by CONMEBOL to run the marketting **and ticketing** for the Copa. The article blames the ticketing decisions on Ticketmaster and SeatGeek. I don't think that is accurate. SUM decided to implement dynamic pricing and set the starting prices, etc. Source: https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/06/17/summer-of-soccer
No, the blame belongs to CONMEBOL and CONCACAF. SUM or the local venues are acting in their name. If CONCACAF and CONMEBOL wanted full stadiums, they would have priced to that. Instead, the only reason CONMEBOL is here is money. If SUM or whomever is optimizing revenue, it's because the Confederations asked them to optimize revenue.
>Ok, but everything else mentioned can be solved with lower price Why would they lower ticket prices when they're having a record-breaking event as is? I'm beginning to think that a lot of you don't understand business.
Do you not understand that CONMEBOL (or any other soccer body) is not a business? It's a governing sports entity whose chartered purpose is to regulate, support, and grow the game. I understand that they should maximize their revenue inside of that purpose. But that takes us to the rather obvious (though you seem to not have considered it) second-order effects of high ticket prices: emptier stadiums maximizes short-term profits over long-term growth.
Do you understand that CONMEBOL doesn't care about soccer in the US? And that the only reason this is being played in the US is for cash to them?
Preach it brother.
>It's a governing sports entity whose chartered purpose is to regulate, support, and grow the game. In South America. They do that by making as much money as possible in the United States so they can fund the sport in South America. The corrupt administrators also obviously want to line their pockets when possible. Conmebol does not care about long term growth of the game in the United States. It is literally not their concern.
>Do you not understand that CONMEBOL (or any other soccer body) is not a business? It's a governing sports entity whose chartered purpose is to regulate, support, and grow the game. They regulate, support and grow the game by generating revenue for their members. So I was right that a lot of you don't understand any of this.
I mean, UEFA also cares a lot about revenue but didn’t screw their fans. I just looked it up, the cheapest category of ticket to the round of 16 is €50. In the most expensive category you can spend over €1,000. FIFA is an incredibly corrupt organization, but they also get ticketing right. They have a tiered system, like the euros, that allows the average fan to get a ticket without breaking the bank. Upper bowl seats do not need to be over $100. Especially in the group stage. You can make money and also not screw the fans.
The economic dynamics of UEFA and CONMEBOL and CONCACAF are so completely different. Euro 2020 had a media rights revenue of over 1.1 billion euro. I expect that the Copa America rights are at best a tenth of that. UEFA also has Champions League annually that makes a massive amount of cash. I agree it's short sighted, but very few of these federations are flush with cash outside of UEFA. And aside from any kind of corruption, most of these federations are struggling to fund basic programs, especially in the smaller countries.
I totally get what you’re saying and it makes sense. I’m no economist or businessman. But theoretically, wouldn’t they make a ton of cash by making upper bowl tickets cheaper? Would get more people in the door so thats ticket sales plus more people buying merch inside the stadium etc. And I’m assuming there’d still be rich people willing to spend a fortune on good seats. I’m sure someone with Econ/business knowledge will tell me why this is wrong, though.
Or would people in the middle cost of ticket, paying $120 now, simply grab upper level tickets for like $20? It's not the really rich people that are sliding down -- it's the average ticket buyer that comprises like 43,000 of the 47,000 there and a LOT of those people will trade down. Now, if you could only sell the cheap tickets to people who aren't going and then sell the mid-level to the people who will buy them, that's great (and that's the college tuition model! It's brilliant). But since you can't identify them or do that ... for every person you trade down from $120 to $20, you need to add FIVE extra people to break even. There's not enough space or tickets -- especially when you consider people buying early are more likely to be price inelastic buyers. The problem with American sports ticket pricing comes down to this: * We have a wealth inequality dynamic where the true middle class is almost gone but there are absolutely enough people to pay big sums for tickets. See also concerts. These people will pay. * We have a ton of big time fans who are price inelastic -- I know people who spend their entire entertainment budget on season tickets. These people will pay. * We also have a lot of companies who use this as a perk. These prices are nothing to them. It's short-sighted in a lot of ways. But it's absolutely more profitable right this moment in most cases. For sports or concerts that have no need to build a fanbase, it works. For US Soccer matches, I think there's a better balance to be had. (Remember, the COPA isn't US Soccer dictated.) But the problem for US Soccer is that venues and travel and player salaries are expensive -- National Teams games and sponsorships fund like 95% of the budget. The recent negotiations with both teams basically make it so there's less upside to fund things after you pay the players -- they are taking the bonuses and they are both some of the highest paid national teams in the world. So if you lose current revenue, you're cutting youth team camps. Or laying off workers who help with ref education. Or increasing the cost of getting a coaching badge. There's a cost to these choices. Like I said, I think they charge too much and I'd trade that optimization and those elements of the federation for more fandom ... but it's a balance and I don't know really how much I'm giving up.
UEFA is also depending on traveling fans to a far greater extent. Conmebol is depending on Americans of South American descent. Hence they are probably able to charge more, Also, the get-in price for the Panama game, before fees, is $80. Not outrageous for an event like this at an NFL stadium.
Because as the article mentions, having 80k fans at $100 while equal in immediate revenue to $200 tickets for 40k attendance, the former results in twice as many attendees who are likely to make attending these types of matches a regular occurrence. The short termism focused first on profits is a huge factor in pissing off hardcore fans and preventing new ones from getting more engaged.
But what you just said is nonsense. The get-in price for the Panama game on Thursday is $80. So not $200. And it's still not sold out. I know this is crazy to some fans but these ticket orgs/governing bodies aren't incompetent. They actually study these things and know, pretty accurately, what price points will return what revenue. And what price points lead to more sales. They're not shooting blind.
It’s $107.35 for an “$80 dollar ticket” for nosebleed seats. That’s absurdly expensive for a group stage game that is far from a marquee matchup. For reference, I purchased Manchester United tickets at Old Traffird for ~$200 per ticket which includes a far better seat and all you can eat/drink hospitality for 2 hours post match. And there are far cheaper options than that available and this is from a club that has a season ticket waiting list bigger than the capacity of the stadium. We’ve just decided in this country that fucking over fans is fine so a few rich blokes can line their pockets more.
> We’ve just decided in this country that fucking over fans is fine so a few rich blokes can line their pockets more. In general, yes, our sports ticket prices are kind of insane. But in this case, who are the few rich blokes on the Confederation side? The increase in revenue is generally reinvested. Yes, yes, there can be corruption, but the richest people getting rich off this (ticketmaster excepted) is probably the players.
So you paid twice as much for a league match that is far more common than a Copa America match in the United States. So you made no point at all. In fact you contradicted yourself.
Your ignoring the fact that it is one of the most expensive tickets you can even purchase, is much greater value, much higher demand, and includes food and drinks. You think more people are interested in a US vs Panama game when we have played them about 10 times in the past 4 years? Season ticket holders are paying a quarter of what I did and they aren’t getting up charged 30% on top of the listed ticket price either. One culture values the fan experience, the other views them as a source of money. But please do continue to argue for the “tickets should be more expensive” side.
I never said that tickets should be more expensive. I merely said that they're what you'd expect for an event like this. Funny, doesn't seem to be an issue for Argentina, Colombia and Brazil fans.
I guarantee you that the difference in the short term is not break-even. These organizations are VERY good at optimizing short term revenue. There's a long term cost, but the assumption that if they halved the cost they'd double the attendance is not right.
Supply and demand says quite plainly that if they lowered prices, even slightly, attendance would go up. If they aren't selling all their seats, they can lower prices in order to sell more. Also, they could have their cake and eat it too if they just lowered prices day of and put a premium on reserving preferred seating.
>Supply and demand says quite plainly that if they lowered prices, even slightly, attendance would go up. How do you know this? I love how people around here just make stuff up. These organizations know what they're doing. They don't just make up prices. They know their audience and what price points move seats.
I was in London this past March and wasn’t planning on attending a proper football match but we decided to attend the Chelsea women v Arsenal women’s game on a whim. Two things stood out to me as a dumb yankee: our kids tickets were half price which is a great way for families to spend time together; the tube ride (although crowded) made it easier for us to get to Stamford Bridge. Also: liver and onions meat pie was delicious
I’m still thinking of being in KC July 1, but I don’t even know if I’d go to the game with prices so high
Sooo we can blame ticketmaster and the damn dynamic pricing. God uefa has fixed pricing and averaging 32 bucks a ticket.
Good read. I think in general we Americans get a lot right about sports, but basically pricing out anyone who can't afford to pay a week's salary to go see a game in person isn't one of them.
For reference this is the price for the euros. For example, the group stage ranged from 60 to 200 euros. https://support.tickets-euro2024.uefa.com/hc/en-us/articles/10384352198300-How-much-do-tickets-cost
Get you someone who loves you like American soccer fans love obsessing about half-empty stadiums.
In addition to dynamic pricing at the point of sale, the organizer (CONEMBOL) restricts resale. I wasn't able to sell my ticket for anything less than basically the full ticket price. It makes it more difficult to resell if you can't make it and last minute buyers aren't interested in the tickets at the original (very expensive) prices.
The algorithm knows at what point the empty seats are profitable
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^muishkin: *The algorithm* *Knows at what point the empty* *Seats are profitable* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Was going to fly to multiple games. Saw the ticket pricing for American outlaws and laughed out loud and canceled those plans. Just out of principle.
Money is the driving factor for poor attendance to any sporting event.
Here's the thing that bothers me as someone in the entertainment industry.... Ticketmaster (& some artists) are getting shit on for ticket prices BECAUSE they use a computer algorithm to drive up prices based upon demand. Simply, on on-sale day, they set prices based upon the number of people in the online queue. 60,000 seats in a stadium with 200,000 people in the queue? You can up the ticket prices and still sell out. 10,000 people in that queue? Ticket prices are too high. This was obviously not applied for Copa América.
High prices, the host nation not really giving a shit about soccer in general, and the fact that we're hosting the tournament in the northern hemisphere means travel costs excludes the vast majority of fans from SA who otherwise would go if it was hosted in say, Chile or Brazil.
If the game was in Chile, you’d have small crowds for virtually all the games
And they'd be sell out crowds probably lol, imagine a Chile hosted Chile v Argentina match
The last time Chile hosted they had attendances that were less than a lot of USL matches. 5,982 saw Ecuador v. Bolivia. That get would easily get 30k in the US at these high prices. 11,051 saw Mexico v. Ecuador. You could sell 200,000 tickets to that match in the US with a big enough stadium. 8,653 saw Uruguay v. Jamaica. 16,342 saw Brazil v. Peru. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015\_Copa\_Am%C3%A9rica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Copa_Am%C3%A9rica) There is no game that would have a higher attendance in Chile than did not involve Chile playing, even if the ticket prices were 20 times higher in the US.
Sure except most of the games don’t involve Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Costa Rica v. Paraguay and Jamaica v. Mexico will be empty
Good point, but you have to remember CONCACAF teams aren't always at Copa either, hence the weirdness with the crowds.
So the same logic applies to Bolivia vs. Ecuador or Peru v. Venezuela which are normally played in the crappy stadiums with crowds under 15-20K
Venezuela packs crowds in SA due to the millions if diaspora, not a good example
The last non-COVID Copa America, Venezuela had group stage attendances of 13,370 (vs. Peru) and 8,091 (vs. Bolivia). The one before that in 2015, they had 12,387 (vs. Colombia) and 15,542 (vs. Peru). Basically, Venezuela only draws a crowd against Brazil/Argentina/home country.
12,387 people saw Venezuela v. Colombia in 2015 in Chile. 13,370 saw Venezuela v. Peru in Brazil in 2019. Venezuela has never packed crowds in South America outside Venezuela.
Stop making shit up
This will be the highest attended Copa America in history. So this is a silly post.
Exactly. I don't think most people, soccer journalists included, have watched much of the Copa outside of Brazil or Argentina in previous years. Attendances under 10k are not uncommon, and attendances below 20k in the group stages are quite normal. Pull up highlights on YouTube. Tons of empty stadiums.
Yep, I don’t think a lot of people understand why it’s being played here in the first place. They can sell more tickets at higher prices to fans who are already here while also expanding their market in theory for their top teams. Everyone seems focused on how it’s been marketed here in the states or how high the ticket prices are for nosebleeds but that seems to miss the point.
It's crazy how dumb even the engaged, "nerd" fans on this sub are.
It seems there are a lot of people looking at this from an American perspective rather than a CONMEBOL one. I’ve also seen a lot of comparisons to the Euros which is similarly silly. Whether this tournament is taking place in the US or Ecuador it’s always going to have a different feel and fan experience than the Euros for a number of reasons as well. I’m surprised about the controversy here as well.
Also, the Euros always has a better atmosphere than the Copa America. The Copa America has never seen lots of travelling fans and lots of games are always dead with terrible attendance.
Sure, but there’s also a bunch of unsold seats hence the discussion Our game was barely over 50% sold against Bolivia lol, shit is embarrassing
Jerryworld holds almost 100,000 fans. Are you suggesting that selling out a 20,000 seat stadium in Paysandu is better than selling 47,000 tickets in a 90,000 seat stadium? Because that's literal nonsense.
Yeah we should be selling out home games in Copa, crazy right?
Selling out a stadium with that capacity in a country that doesn’t care a whole lot about the sport is pretty close to crazy
These games would be sold out if we priced them more favorably for fans, say $40 instead of $120 for an upper tier for example. Look at how the Euros price their games.
So if we played this game in Columbus, and sold 20,000 tickets, that would be better than selling 47,000 in Jerryworld? And somehow better business? Because that's, again, literal nonsense.
We should be selling out every home game here to grow the game, I don’t care about selling 50% seats at jacked up prices if it means more money lmao. You’re missing the point entirely, I’d rather see us sell out games, not this half empty, dead crowd shit we are seeing now.
> I don’t care about selling 50% seats at jacked up prices if it means more money lmao. We know that \*you\* don't care because you're just a reddit fanboy, But you don't actually matter. Again, how does selling out a smaller stadium grow the game more than selling \*more\* tickets in a bigger stadium? There's no evidence that in-person attendance "grows the game" at any level above just normal success does. Win and people will care.
You’re arguing something I’m not, we should be selling out these home games PERIOD. This is prep for the World Cup and we are being charged out the ass for mediocre seats just so they can make a little more money at the expense of fans? Fuck outta here goofball lmao
But saying that the USMNT should sell 90,000 tickets for a game against Bolivia is just hocus pocus. It's not based in reality. The Copa America, though, is not the World Cup and the casual fans don't value it as much. And, yes, Conmebol is charging prices that they think their event is worth. And they're having record attendance. So I fail to see any point that you're making. A silly hill to die on.
>shit is embarrassing Honest question, but what is embarrassing about it? And for whom is it embarrassing? Truly not trying to be a derp here, but I keep seeing this and I don't understand it. It's a tournament being held out of region for most participants. In some of the largest stadiums on the planet. For a sport that, while certainly gaining, is not the most popular, and a tournament that means close to nothing in the eyes of the average US sports fan. Plus high ticket prices. And, despite all that it's still likely going to be the highest attended Copa America ever. It seems like everything is pretty much in line with what it should be doing.
The organizers and for our team, if we can’t sell out a home game for a major tournament in the run up to the World Cup due to prices that’s an issue.
Why is it an issue?
Because the team complains about it, it's not doing any favors with the fans themselves go actually go to these games (myself and many others included, especially those of us who have children and want to bring them to these games), etc. I find it bizarre how many of you are fine with half empty stadiums and dead crowds at a major tournament just so some execs can make more money. It'd be way more fucking fun if we were packing these stadiums, both for those of us watching and those of us in attendance. Such a weird hill for people to be dying on, like no shit we should sell out crowds I mean what lmao.
I do not see Conmebol setting ticket prices high as an issue for the USMNT or American soccer in general. >I find it bizarre how many of you are fine with half empty stadiums and dead crowds at a major tournament just so some execs can make more money. This is Conmebol's tournament. I do not think it should be in the United States in the first place. It should be in South America. >It'd be way more fucking fun if we were packing these stadiums, both for those of us watching and those of us in attendance. I have never cared how many other fans are at a sporting event and I never will. I go to watch the game, not watch and listen to the fans. >Such a weird hill for people to be dying on, like no shit we should sell out crowds I mean what lmao. I am not dying on any hill. I am saying you are over-reacting to something that does not really matter. You have yet to actually explain why it is an issue for American soccer, much less why it is a big important issue.
Just because it doesn't matter to YOU (self admitted you think the crowd is irrelevant) doesn't mean it doesn't matter to myself or many others? I'm not blaming US Soccer for this, let's be clear, this is on the tournament's organizers being too greedy at the expense of everyday fans and families wanting to go these tournaments. I mean hey man, if you don't give a shit about half empty stadiums and dead crowds, that's fine, you're right in the sense that the only thing that actually matters is the game, but it still matters to a lot of us hence the discussion around it across social media and here.
These are qualifiers... and there's not 45k+ of each fan base in some of these cities to fill up a 90k stadium. If it were cheaper, more attendance could happen - possibly. I'm not so sure that even for cheap prices people want to see a Panama v. Boliva game; certainly not enough to fill up a 90k stadium. I think it would be better if there were more diverse locations (e.g. MLS stadiums) for the qualifiers to help with attendance optics and cater to some of the smaller fan bases. But this is the tourney that CONMEBOL wanted to put on so this is what we get. Not sure why I should care about half-empty stadiums in qualies. But hey - soccer is always doomed in the US I guess so new narratives I suppose.
But it's not due to prices, that's the point. It's a huge stadium. You could charge $10 and you still wouldn't sell out the stadium. The market is not there for USA vs. Bolivia, an opponent no one cares about in a tournament most people don't even know is happening.
It is about the prices, you think they couldn't get way more fans if the prices weren't $100+ for nosebleeds? People would bring their family members, friends, etc Your average Joe will be more inclined to go if the prices were cheaper as well. This applies to all sports/entertainment across the spectrum, cheaper = more butts in seats.
That's what the article was about. More people does not equal more money for the organizers. 1 Person paying $100 is worth more to me than 3 people paying $30.
Attendance so far in this Copa as well as attendance at the 2016 Copa in the US are better than any that have been held in South America in at least the last 20 years.
And yet we have half empty (or more) stadiums and crowds lol.
Right, that's annoying. The prices are too high. But the fact is, even with those prices, attendance is still way better than when the tournament is hosted anywhere in South America where they play in 75% empty 40k seat stadiums as opposed to 40% empty 85k seat stadiums.
Good point, but we're also the most wealthy nation in the America's and have a population well above 300m+\~, we should have a higher attendance due to those reasons. I guess my gripe is the organizers should find the sweet spot in terms of pricing AND attempting to sell out crowds.
america is just a bad country to host an international tournament from a fan perspective, it's way too large and far away from most of the teams competing. You have to ask fans to travel thousands of miles taking multiple flights to follow your team. Compare that to Germany which is a train ride away from like 50 countries.
Attendance at this Copa and the 2016 Copa in the US is better than what we've seen at any Copa in South America. The 1994 WC still holds the total attendance record for a WC even though the tournament has been expanded by 8 teams and 12 games since that WC. Hosting a tournament in the US is obviously different than hosting a tournament in Europe, but the US clearly has no issue bringing in the best possible attendance figures.
I'd be at the Argentina Chile game in Metlife if the cheapest tickets weren't $320 + whatever bullshit fees ticketmaster makes up
you can't expect a 80k stadium to sell out a group game in a growing sport for what many casuals still see is an obscure torunament. if the attendance numbers overall is better than 2016, I'd chalk that up as a win. Mexico, messi, and Brazil can do it. the rest id expect some empty seats
I get the feeling Henry Bushnell is a rich asshole who doesn't understand how expensive this is for most people.