U.S. Soccer needs to do something to spice up its post-January camp friendlies, lest it continue to embarrass itself with miniscule USMNT attendance.
According to Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times, a paltry 6,500 tickets had been sold for the USMNT’s friendly against Costa Rica on Saturday at Dignity Health Sports Park about 24 hours before kickoff for Gregg Berhalter’s first match of 2020.
Ticket sales for @USMNT friendly with Costa Rica on Saturday at Dignity Health Sports Park currently at 6,500
— Kevin Baxter (@kbaxter11) January 31, 2020
The U.S. will host Costa Rica on Saturday at the home of the LA Galaxy (and for a time the LA Chargers). With not long to go before the match, having sold tickets to 24 percent of the stadium is yet another bad look for U.S. Soccer.
How To Watch USMNT vs Costa Rica
- When: 3:55 p.m. EST, Feb. 1, 2020
- Where: Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California
- TV: ESPNEWS, TUDN, Univision
The U.S. opened 2019 with a friendly against Panama at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. That match sold just over 9,000 tickets in an arena that holds 63,400, with some suggesting the actual attendance was closer to 7,000. Berhalter picked up his first win as USMNT coach that day, but the empty, cavernous stadium was the lasting image.
The calm before the calm. Not saying it’s a ghost town for the 2019 #USMNT opener but I felt like Will Smith wandering an empty Times Square in I Am Legend when I walked in. pic.twitter.com/vDJRfuqHds
— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) January 28, 2019
The U.S. played Costa Rica in a friendly a few days after that Panama match, drawing 13,656 at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California.
Fast forward a year and the USSF may have to deal even smaller crowds.
Tickets for the USMNT-Costa Rica friendly start at $25, but once you tack on those convenience fees that always gouge you, you’re looking at $31.50 before considering cost of transportation/parking. While not absurdly expensive, considering it’s a meaningless friendly with both teams focusing on Olympic qualifying more than senior-team performance, a lower price would definitely draw more fans.
Gregg Berhalter named an extremely inexperienced squad for the January camp and Costa Rica friendly. The match is basically an opportunity for young Americans to prove they deserve to be on the Olympic qualifying roster and, assuming they’re successful, on the team that goes to Tokyo this summer.
For #USMNT youth, Saturday’s match vs. offers plenty of opportunity to #StakeYourClaim.
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) January 31, 2020
Despite the low attendance, the USMNT might actually outdraw the USWNT’s match with Costa Rica next week, part of the Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship going on in Houston. The U.S. women drew a measly 4,363 fans for their 4-0 win over Haiti in the opening match of the tournament, though it was raining heavily that night.
The USWNT plays Panama on Friday before finishing Group A play against Costa Rica on Monday. Tickets for those matches also start at $25 but include slightly cheaper convenience fees.
Either way, with the U.S. women drawing fewer than 5,000 fans and the men looking like they’ll struggle to draw many more than that, it’s not a great start to the year for U.S. Soccer. And it should be a big year for the USSF, with the women playing in the Olympics and the men attempting to qualify for those Olympics and the start of 2022 World Cup qualifying.
What could be done differently? Obviously, better opponents (or at least not one the U.S. players so regularly) would increase attendance, but the bottom line is likely financial. Make these tickets more affordable or make the concessions dirt cheap to encourage folks to come out to see a team that might get lucky and qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Tickets for January Camp matches should be next to nothing. Encourage families, young kids, whoever to come and support the USMNT. It should be about exposing new fans to the senior team. Price them 10-$20 and consider it an opportunity to grow the game as opposed to making $.
— Stu Holden (@stuholden) January 31, 2020
Sadly, not even the men’s match will be all that easy to watch as it will be televised on ESPNEWS. Meanwhile Fox swooped in to grab the U.S. TV rights to the women’s qualifying tournament at the last minute, but the USWNT matches are all over the place, from FS1 and FS2 to FOX Soccer Plus. Fox did announce at the last minute on Friday that it would join the USWNT-Panama match in progress after the conclusion of a women’s basketball game, so yay?
In other USMNT news Friday, Antonee Robinson’s loan move to AC Milan fell apart, meaning Oguchi Onyewu’s memorable stint remains the last time an American played for the Rossoneri. Also, 19-year-old FC Dallas forward Jesús Ferreira confirmed his commitment to play for the USMNT over Colombia.
| This week, Jesús Ferreira informed @ussoccer of his desire to represent the #USMNT.
After applying for a waiver, @jesusfcd27 has been cleared by FIFA to play for the , with Gregg Berhalter confirming today that he will start Saturday’s match vs. .Welcome, Jesús!
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) January 31, 2020
After Saturday’s match, the U.S. will take on the Netherlands in Eindhoven on March 26 and Wales in Cardiff on March 30.
