from today's T&T:
FIFA tourney a success in Moncton, officials say
Friday, August 22, 2014
Times and Transcript
By: Tess Allen
http://22864.vws.magma.ca/index.php?&article_id=13658
Organizers and volunteers with the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 say Moncton has much to be proud of in the wake of Wednesday’s final local match, a semifinal between Nigeria and North Korea.
“From the facilities, competition and hospitality point of view… it was a resounding success,” said Codiac Soccer president and event volunteer Dale Briggs, who helped out with ticketing at the FIFA matches held in Moncton over the last month.“I’m very proud of the city and the ability to generate volunteers which give of their time freely and friendlily – that was one of the comments made with the wrap last night … Moncton does itself proud from that perspective.”
Briggs said he’d like to see promotion amped up for next summer’s 2015 Women’s World Cup in efforts to increase attendance, which he said floated just above 4,000 at each local match this year and would have liked to have seen closer to 6,500 or 7,000.
“I think what has to happen is there has to be a recognition that … the Moncton market is very different perhaps from Toronto or Montreal and our market is not the city but rather the Maritime region and likely the Atlantic region,” he said, adding that FIFA officials are anticipating around 20,000 to fill the stands at each match in Moncton next year.
“The promotion has to be done in at least the three Maritime provinces as opposed to just Moncton”
Norval McConnell, who helped man the transportation side of things at this year’s event, couldn’t agree more. He believes organizers will need to do more to promote not only the importance of such an event,but the sport itself in the region.
“Soccer is a growing sport in this area and we have to do more to let people know of the level of play and the excitement of the games,” said McConnell. He added that because soccer is not a large spectator sport in Canada,“there isn’t a following for it yet – at least here.”
McConnell doesn’t believe 20,000 people is an unrealistic goal, but said it will require a“focused plan”that will involve a wider scope of promotion.
“If the Maritimes are going to host something and it happens to be in Moncton because we have the facilities, it’s not really a Moncton event. It’s a Maritime event,” he said.“I think we have to set (20,000) as a target… (but) we need to start putting that plan in place now to be ready for next June.”
As they head into the debriefing period following the conclusion of Moncton’s share of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014, venue general manager Stéphane Delisle said this is certainly something organizers will take into consideration.“We’re relatively happy with how things have gone. We’re excited that not only have we done a great job in Moncton with the volunteers, contractors, staff and everyone involved, but when you look at the big picture, this is one organization that has delivered an international tournament over four cities and we’re really happy as to how we came together as one big team”said Delisle.
“As with any event operator, whether it be (for) a festival or a rock show or a sporting event, we’d like to see more people in the stands. We will certainly, as part of our debrief this fall, (ensure) that people across the Atlantic provinces really understand the opportunity (of the 2015 Women’s World Cup)”
The 2015 Women’s World Cup will be held next summer from June 6 to July 5 with Moncton matches slated for June 9, 13, 15, 17 and 21. The official draw to decide which teams will come to Moncton is slated for Dec.6,but tickets for next summer’s tournament will begin going on sale on Sept. 10.
personal note - I went to several of the matches and I found the atmosphere surrounding the games to be quite neat. The management of the event by FIFA was very professional. I think an average attendance at the games of around 4,000 was decent, and given the size of our city, was respectable given the attendance levels at other host cities.
The article states that they want 20,000 people out to the games next year. This obviously means temporary end zone seating, which is a surprise. I think achieving attendance levels like that for the 2015 event will really be a stretch. While the senior Women's World Cup will be a more prestigious event, and should draw more people, I would imagine 10-12,000 attendance would be a more reasonable expectation.
As an aside, I'm sure that local retailers did benefit from having the event here. I was at the Jump+ store at Champlain Place last week and the entire Nigerian soccer team was there, essentially buying out the store. Sports tourism can be a powerful economic generator….. 