Asian Cup 2015: organisers overwhelmed as crowd numbers surge toward 600,000
ASIAN Cup organisers hope a run to the final by the Socceroos will allow them to surge past 600,000 spectators for the tournament.
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ASIAN Cup organisers hope a run to the final by the Socceroos will allow them to surge past 600,000 spectators for the tournament, putting them within touching distance of a remarkable average of 20,000 fans at every game.
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Speaking after drawing breath at the end of the group stages, Michael Brown - CEO of the local organising committee - said that he was “proud, not just of football fans but of Australian sports fans” for the crowds recorded at games - which he said for non-Socceroos matches were nearly 300 per cent over budget.
With attendances close to 400,000 for the 24 games so far, organisers are banking on 50,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night for the Socceroos’ quarter-final, plus 22,000 if they make the semi-final and another 82,000 were they to make the final.
With pre-sales at the other three quarter-finals already in five figures, Brown said the reality meant he could leave behind pre-tournament question marks.
“There were some things I wasn’t sure about beforehand,” Brown said.
“We’d done so much community work, and worked so hard with our fantastic ambassadors, but we just weren’t sure if the tournament would engage with people, you can’t know.
“Conservatively we’d budgeted for 5000 people at the non-Socceroos games - so to see Japan v Jordan sell out, to see China and North Korea sell out, is remarkable. North Korea hardly have a fan base here after all. Getting 12,000-14,000 at games where we knew there weren’t many local fans is really pleasing.
“In Canberra we should see 75,000 fans in total, Newcastle around 60,000. We’re 300 per cent over that 5000 budget, but on top of the crude numbers has been the atmosphere and colour, it’s second to none.”
The fan base would have to reach 640,000 to give the tournament as a whole an average of 20,000 spectators per game, but Brown said he would be able to report a profit from the tournament no matter what happens from now on.
“Exactly how much will take a few weeks to ascertain because there’s a lot of reconciling to do - ticket sales commissions and so on. But the tournament will make a profit I’m proud to say. We have to do a complete audit and provide reports to the state and federal governments, as well as the Asian Football Confederation obviously.”
Brown also revealed that A-League clubs had been anxious to get access to the database of supporters who had attended games.
“There are privacy issues of course but the Wanderers and Melbourne Victory in particular have hosted community ambassadors and been very keen to tap into that knowledge, and we’ve been working on a multicultural strategy beyond our event so that the effects are felt on an ongoing basis,” he said.
“Ultimately we want the supporters at these games to become A-League supporters.”
Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: organisers overwhelmed as crowd numbers surge toward 600,000
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