News
Gold Cup Smashes Attendance Records En Route To Final
With just three days to go before the final of the 2025 Gold Cup in the NRG Stadium in Houston, Concacaf is reporting that there are less than 4,000 tickets left for the 72,200 capacity stadium that will host Mexico and the USA.
The attendance is on course to break the record for the largest attendance at a football match in Houston, the previous highest being a Copa America clash between Argentina and the USA.
For Concacaf it will be the third sell out of the knockout rounds with both semi-finals at the Levi’s Stadium in San Jose, California, and Energiser Park in St Louis, being at capacity limits.
The Gold Cup kicked off at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on June 14 in what was the eeriest of atmospheres in a city gripped by the fear of immigration enforcement raids on hispanic communities, and on the same day as the ‘No Kings Day’ protests.
Despite the palpable uncertainty, more than 50,000 tickets had been sold for the Mexico-Dominican Republic opener that was played without protests in front of a mainly Mexico-supporting crowd that turned up to celebrate their heritage and community. It was 90 minutes of football intensity that put the game and a celebration of humanity first.
From that point on crowds across the Gold Cup schedule, and particularly those supporting central American teams, have turned stadiums into packed out cauldrons of football passion and commitment.
It has all been in stark contrast to the antiseptic and often crowd-free matches of FIFA’s Club World Cup where stadiums have frequently been less than half full and where crowds have looked like tourists who happen to have stumbled on a football match, rather fans who have turned up to support their teams.
For the Gold Cup group matches Concacaf is reporting average crowd of 25,000, and for the knockout rounds average crowds of 45,000.
Clearly Gold Cup games matter to players and fans alike. A sad contrast to many of FIFA’s club games have that at times been akin to watching walking football.
Houston on Sunday night is box office, the hottest sports ticket in the USA for a match between the two super powers of football in the Concacaf region.
Insideworldfootball.com
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