Sit down with the NZ Herald and a panel of experts to get the lowdown on who the Football Ferns will play in Group A of the Fifa Women's World Cup.
There has been a jump in Women’s World Cup 2023 ticket sales following a cracking opening round of games, which included the Football Ferns’ upset win over Norway.
Overnight, Fifa told the Herald that 450,000 of 900,000 tickets to the 29 matches being played in New Zealand have now beensold - a surge of 100,000 since the New Zealand-Norway clash.
And ticket sales across Australia and New Zealand yesterday hit 1.5 million - reaching Fifa’s pre-tournament goal and beating the previous record (1.4 million, when Canada hosted in 2015).
The New Zealand-Norway game at Eden Park set an attendance record for any football match in New Zealand, with 42,137 attending. The only negative was that several corporate suites sat empty, including the two next to where the Herald filmed (see video below).
Host countries are obliged to offer “clean” stadiums, stripped of their usual sponsorships and corporate suite subscriptions - which are then sold for the tournament by Fifa.
Eden Park CEO Nick Sautner referred queries to Fifa, which did not immediately answer questions about the number of corporate suites sold.
Hospitality pricing is robust, next to the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
A corporate box (which holds around 20, across an indoor lounge and outdoor seating) cost $25,300 for the opening game at Eden Park. Other group games are priced between $14,000 and $19,800 - versus a flat $11,500 for the Rugby Women’s World Cup last year and around $20,000 for an All Blacks test.
Football Ferns striker Hannah Wilkinson celebrates after the win over Norway. Photo / Photosport
If you want to pick one up for the semifinal at the same venue on August 15, it will set you back $33,000.
Hiring a corporate suite for all nine games at Eden Park would have cost a cool $184,000. At Sky Stadium in the capital, prices for nine games - including a Round of 16-clash - ranged from $105,000 to $154,000 for a corporate suite.
Meanwhile, general admission seating has been snapped up for the Football Ferns’ remaining Group A games.
The New Zealand-Philippines match in Wellington tonight is sold out, bar wheelchair seating. So is the Football Ferns clash against Switzerland on Sunday in Dunedin.
With some very affordable pricing for regular seats - which can go for as low as $20 - even games not involving the hosts have pulled big numbers. Saturday’s USA-Vietnam match at Eden Park drew a crowd of 41,107 - marking the third biggest turnout for an overseas US group stage match in World Cup history.
It’s a turnaround from the eve of the tournament. On July 13, slow sales led to Fifa issuing 20,000 free tickets through Xero and other sponsors (all to New Zealand matches involving lower-ranked teams).
Across the Tasman, all five matches at the 80,000-capacity Stadium Australia in Sydney have sold out, including the final and one of the semis. The other semifinal, at Eden Park, is sold-out bar accessibility seating.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer. He also covers sports business and sports streaming.
