Those FIFA World Cup Tickets
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It’s only the biggest women’s sporting event in the world but, strangely punters in Aotearoa seem to be really tardy in signing up for the Big Show.
The Blame Game has recently rocked up. This includes attributing a comment of “New Zealand must do better” from the Minister for Sport that never happened. Sigh; election year.
Highlighting the issue is the bandwagon that is going on over the Tasman with the Matildas’ final friendly before the cup selling out in a 50,000 capacity stadium.
So why the slow take up?
Parochialism
Since 1987 New Zealand has (co)hosted many men’s and women’s World Cups. In the case of cricket and rugby union the home side has rightly entered these tournaments with the rightful expectation of going deep.
This time that is not the case; perhaps this is one time we can learn from Qatar and Japan and Wales (rugby) and just lap up the global talent on offer that we will never see again. We do get involved in FIFA World Cups on TV.
Supply v Demand
Take Wellington for an example. It hosts 9 games in total, with 7 group matches in 13 days. Nobody is going along to watch all of those. In contrast Perth and Adelaide host 5 matches and the self-proclaimed best sporting city ever Melbourne hosts 6. Those cities are quite large.
Ticketing Strategy
From the start tickets have always been drip fed in small parcels. That seems a bit odd; people who apply for tickets twice and get kicked back tend to be put off.
Technology
Tickets can only be purchased by a surprisingly cumbersome FIFA app. We need to realise this is a 21st century event, and the so-called culture of rocking up to a match 5 minutes before kick-off on whim are gone.
Unfamiliarity
European women’s club football gets nothing like the coverage of their male counterparts. So a lot of these teams are turning up to the World Cup with no players known to the casual football fan. But this is where there is hope. As the tournament progresses we will get to know these players and hopefully form an attachment to some of them, and their team. It would be nice for New Zealanders to adopt a second team that doesn’t have to be the USA.
Fun fact. At major sporting events New Zealand likes to play the Per Capita game. Despite the gloom, As far as tickets sold, we are head of Australia.