Fifa Women’s World Cup boss unconcerned by dismal crowd numbers at playoff tournament

Fifa Women’s World Cup chief executive Dave Beeche remains confident there will be plenty of spectators at the mega-event in New Zealand in July and August, despite the underwhelming turnout during the recent play-off tournament.

This event that
saw Portugal, Haiti and Panama confirm the bottom three spots, saw sparkling football in Auckland and Hamilton and some colorful foreign support, particularly from the Chilean and Argentinian communities.

But local sports audiences were often sparse.

Tournament officials and stadium staff almost outnumbered one game (476), while other attendances included 746, 804 and 925 respectively.

The Football Ferns’ three games, played concurrently with the tournament, drew an average of 3,775 spectators.

Although it would always sell hard given other summer activities, the low profile of some teams and the disruption caused by Cyclone Gabrielle, it wasn’t the best look, especially as Fifa brought plenty of bells and whistles to the event.

It also underscored the scale of the task for the organizers with 29 World Cup games this side of Tasman, including nine at Eden Park, but Beeche is unconcerned.

“Obviously we would have liked a few more spectators in the stands, but sport is exploding worldwide and the growth curve is never a straight line,” Beeche told the Herald. “But the New Zealand crowd will come to the main tournament as everyone appreciates the best in the world and New Zealand have a good track record of supporting these mega events.”

According to Beeche, a comprehensive marketing strategy over the next four months — from top-level to grassroots — will increase awareness of the event. He also pointed to last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, which took a while to develop and almost ended in a sell-out.

“I’m 100 percent confident that New Zealand will be behind the main event and the stadiums will be full in July,” said Beeche.

Beeche pointed to some promising early sales figures for the event.

So far, almost 625,000 tickets have been sold during the tournament, including around 145,000 tickets in the four New Zealand stadiums.

“That’s about what you’d expect given the population disparity,” Beeche said. “We are encouraged by the progress and early adoption and commitment. We sell thousands of tickets a day.”

Around 15,000 tickets have already been auctioned off for the opening game between the Football Ferns and Norway at Eden Park, while the blockbuster group stage match between the United States and the Netherlands in Wellington – a repeat of the 2019 final – is heading towards a sell-out with half the stadium is already gone.

And that’s despite the Ferns’ stuttering performances, who appear to be on a shaky path with six losses in their last seven games. Their current form probably hasn’t helped organizers, but Beeche takes a pragmatic view.

“I don’t think the success of this tournament will depend on the performance of the two host teams,” said Beeche. “The New Zealand public will support it anyway as it will be the biggest sporting event for women in the world in history. People will appreciate that and stand behind the experience offered in the stadiums; that sense of excitement, noise and energy of global football.”

Overall, Beeche was gushing about the playoff tournament. He said operationally it was a great test run with many lessons learned. The teams reported a great experience and Fifa was “very impressed” with the logistics, the quality of the pitches and “everything behind the scenes”.

“It was a good example of what we have ahead of us in July and good practice to sharpen [for everyone”,” said Beeche. “A big tick.”