[TRS-T]

Good article which sets the record straight on Olympic football ticket sales.

Some say that was a good reason for selecting David Beckham. Beckham could have shifted a huge chunk of those 500,000 tickets, couldn't he?

Well, actually, no.

Team GB v Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium on August 1 is a sell-out. So are all Great Britain's matches at Wembley, plus the men's quarter-finals, semi-finals and final at Wembley, as well the women's final, while the men's quarter-final and bronze medal matches in Cardiff are both close to being sell-outs.

Meanwhile, the first match at the Millennium - the women's clash between Team GB and New Zealand - has sold 33,000 tickets, which is almost 25,000 more than the maiden women's FA Cup final attracted in May when 8,723 spectators turned up to see Birmingham beat Chelsea on penalties at Bristol's Ashton Gate.

Of course, it would be wonderful if there was a bum on every seat at the London Olympics. But this is one time we should listen to the suits and the bean counters who tell us more than 1.6million tickets have been sold already for the Olympic football, more than for any other sport and more than the recent European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.

That compares with actual overall football attendances in Atlanta 1996 of 1.35million, Sydney 2000 1.075m, Athens 2004 0.43m and Beijing 2008 2.1m.

Beat the organisers over the head on security and transport and legacy and even the dreadful weather if you like, but the amount of football seats which will be full is not too shabby for a sport which should not be anywhere near the Olympics.

Football attendances above average for Games

[Divingbrit]

Had not heard of this, its good news

[Tactical Nuclear Penguin]

Great news. Really looking forward to my footy matches now!

[Glow in the dark]

Going to the Brazil game this Sunday at Old Trafford, can't wait!

[ForensicShoe]

Yay, hoping there'll be a great atmosphere at all the games

[1tartanarmy]

Hampden will be empty. You have to pay me to go watch this olympic football garbage.

[bkeevin]

(Original post by TRS-T)
Good article which sets the record straight on Olympic football ticket sales.



Football attendances above average for Games

So many people were complaining about not getting an tickets. We should have a better attendance than Beijing being such a sporting nation but that looks very unlikely now. Looking at the women football games attendance is really pathetic. They should have given free tickets to school kids, volunteers, unemployed etc. It is so sad seeing all those empty stadia.

[Matthew_Lowson]

The average attendance for yesterdays games was 20,990 which for Womens football in this country isn't bad. For comparison, the Womens World Cup in Germany where women's football is just as popular as the men's the average attendance was 26,430.

Attendances aren't going to be mind blowing, considering the size stadia but the ticket sales may look promising. - The reason for the good ticket sales may be because of the double-headers in the early rounds. I mean, I've got a ticket for two football matches at Old Trafford for £20. Not bad is it.

[bkeevin]

(Original post by Matthew_Lowson)
The average attendance for yesterdays games was 20,990 which for Womens football in this country isn't bad. For comparison, the Womens World Cup in Germany where women's football is just as popular as the men's the average attendance was 26,430.

Attendances aren't going to be mind blowing, considering the size stadia but the ticket sales may look promising. - The reason for the good ticket sales may be because of the double-headers in the early rounds. I mean, I've got a ticket for two football matches at Old Trafford for £20. Not bad is it.

The thing is this is the the olympics. The initial demand exceeded 10million people. They should have flogged more tickets by insisting more about the olympics experience and offered more free tickets just like the Chinese did for Beijing. That is very different from a normal women's world cup just athletics world garners way less interest to the olympics. Are sure about women football being as popular in Germany as men's? Because the men's bundesliga is the most attended in Europe(world probably) with much bigger attendances.

[gagaslilmonsteruk]

(Original post by Matthew_Lowson)
The average attendance for yesterdays games was 20,990 which for Womens football in this country isn't bad. For comparison, the Womens World Cup in Germany where women's football is just as popular as the men's the average attendance was 26,430.

This surprises me as I was at millennium stadium in Cardiff yesterday for both GB vs NZ and Cameroon vs Brazil (Women's) and allegedly it was 30,000. I don't believe that because there were loads and loads of empty seats. Behind the goals on either side, I saw no more than about 50 people split between all three tiers of the stadium. People were mostly (including myself) situated on one side or the other. For Cameroon vs Brazil in particular the numbers were tiny.

[gagaslilmonsteruk]

(Original post by Glow in the dark)
Going to the Brazil game this Sunday at Old Trafford, can't wait!

LOL they're playing in Cardiff tonight. The Brazilians are a great crowd. I was in Cardiff city centre today and they were everywhere wearing their uniform and flag blowing vuvuzelas and singing their national anthems in the middle of a high street. They just seem so friendly and patriotic, it really bought a smile to my face as I saw how much football means to them as a country.

[Hopple]

(Original post by TRS-T)
Good article which sets the record straight on Olympic football ticket sales.



Football attendances above average for Games

Why did it bring up women's football? Unless Beckham was sitting in the dug-out for the women's games, him being in the men's team wouldn't have made any difference. And if he was in the dug-out and drew in bigger crowds, I'd think that very disrespectful to the players to upstage them like that.