The ninth edition of the Women’s World Cup is seeing an increase in ticket sales — with record-breaking attendance this year.
The event, co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, sold 1.77 million tickets, brining in over 1.7 million fans during the first 60 games, soccer’s international governing body reported. Those numbers were recorded even before the last four games.
Additionally, three games brought in over 75,000 fans under a restricted capacity at Sydney’s Stadium Australia, according to ABC.
This is certainly an increase since the 2019 edition of the Women’s World Cup in France. According to FIFA, the average crowd throughout 10 venues this year was just under 29,000 — which is 7,000 above the average in 2019 and 4,000 above the average at previous Cups.
The increase in attendance could also follow FIFA’s decision to expand the 32-team format — an increase from 24 finalists in the 2015 event. This year’s World Cup is also the first edition with more than one host nation.
The tournament is set to run through Aug. 20.
