FIFA Women's World Cup approaching 1 million tickets sold, set to pass 2011

The FIFA Women's World Cup starts in Canada on June 6, and the ticket sales are already encouraging. Terry Jones of The Edmonton Sun wrote Tuesday that 831,000 tickets had been sold by the start of the day, putting the organizers well on track to blow past the total attendance of 845,751 at the last Women's World Cup, which was held in Germany in 2011. The organizing committee's previously-stated goal of 1.5 million tickets sold, which would surpass the previous Women's World Cup attendance record (1,194,215 in the United States in 1999) still appears in view, too, as national organizing committee CEO Peter Montopoli told Jones:

As Jones notes, it's also significant that these tickets aren't being sold at cheap prices across the board to pack the house. That opener in Edmonton has a lowest ticket price of $50, which puts it well above an average CFL game (the Eskimos' average ticket price is $40). It's impressive that they're able to draw so many fans at those prices. Of course, those aren't across the board, as can be seen from the ticket pricing guide. Single non-Canada matches (and doubleheaders in Ottawa and Edmonton) have tickets available starting at $20.15, and they're also offering a free fourth ticket for most games and seats when buying three. So, there are some cheaper options out there, which should strike a good balance of drawing crowds while still bringing in revenue. The level of interest here is impressive too; consider that the Women's World Cup has sold more than twice as many tickets as the PanAm Games. (Granted, the PanAms are a tougher sell in some respects, and they take place in just one region instead of across the country, so their numbers aren't necessarily bad either. The numbers do show how big of a deal the Women's World Cup is, though.)

It's going to be interesting to see how the ticket sales go as the event approaches. It's certainly possible there will be a flood of late buyers as media coverage and popular anticipation of the tournament increases, but it's also possible that most of the people interested in this tournament have already bought their tickets. We'll also see if the arrests of FIFA officials in a corruption probe this week have any effect on the tournament; Canadian officials and this tournament haven't been mentioned in that case so far, and they seem confident they won't be, but even if this World Cup is being handled properly, it's still associated with a worldwide organization that's going to be covered in bad press for weeks. That may not have much of an impact amongst soccer fans, as FIFA's problems have been well-illustrated for decades, but it may deter some casual buyers. Still, the Women's World Cup ticket sales so far are very impressive, and they point to both the strength of the women's game in Canada and the impressive job the organizing committee has done with this event. We'll see how things play out, but they're certainly off to a good start.