If all goes to hell, then, CONCACAF stands to lose quite a bit of money.
A Gold Cup final featuring Mexico would draw at least 80,000 fans to the Rose Bowl. It could draw upwards of 90,000, but I'd say 80,000 is a fair estimate.
If Mexico loses to Honduras on Wednesday, the most I could see attending the match would be 40,000, but that's a stretch. A more reasonable estimate is about 30,000. There are lots of Honduras supporters in the area and since it's on a Saturday night, 30,000 could come out for the match. Probably a more realistic estimate though is about 25,000.
How much of a difference would a Mexico loss in the semifinals mean then? Do the math.
With Mexico: 80,000 to 90,000.
Without Mexico: 30,000 to 40,000.
That's a difference of around 50,000.
Ticket prices range from $40-100.
So multiply 40 by 50,000 and you get a lot of lost money for CONCACAF.
I guess the moral of the story is, if you are tired of CONCACAF's shenanigans (and don't pull for Mexico normally) then go for Honduras. Hit CONCACAF where it hurts, right?
What's a sold out crowd 90,000 or more? I read on espndeportes that concacaf is making 6 million just on sales tickets for the final.
ReplyDeleteIt's a moot point, now that Mexico-USA is set, but lower attendance doesn't necessarily mean money lost. The match was practically, if not completely, sold out before the semi-finals anyways. Sure, empty seats look bad, but the only money lost would be parking and concessions, which I'm not sure CONCACAF gets anyway.
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