Dellacamera said he believes the Women’s World Cup — and women’s soccer in general — began to turn the corner in 1999, when the tournament was played in the U.S. and attendance averaged 37,319 – with more than 90,000 showing up the Rose Bowl for the final.
“I remember being in Sweden,” Dellacamera said “and you had no idea that the World Cup was there.”
Two group-play matches drew crowds of more than 45,000 each. More than 1 million tickets have been distributed overall and both Fox and Telemundo are carrying all 52 matches live.Perhaps the biggest difference since 1995 has been on the field. In that World Cup, just the second women’s tournament, there were just 12 teams and four of the 26 matches were decided by five of more goals. The field has since doubled to 24 countries and the quality of play has improved dramatically.
“There were some games before where you knew if the U.S. showed up, they’d win. Now you can’t say that.” The game is no longer popular in just the U.S. though. In the past two years huge crowds have shown up for games in Mexico, Italy, England, the Netherlands. In Spain, more than 60,000 attended a club match between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in March.
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