EDMONTON

The Countdown Clock in Edmonton hit 79 days, 3 hours and 17 minutes when Peter Montopoli returned to his Ottawa office from holidays Thursday.

The general secretary of the Canadian Soccer Association returned from a trip to Spain, his final break before the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and immediately checked out the numbers.

“We’re at 625,000,” he declared of ticket sales to date.

The snow is melting away. The Abby Wambach-led legal action to prevent the World Cup from being played on artificial turf has gone away. The draw has been held. The national mint commemorative coin program has been launched. The mascots have been revealed. And the trophy is on tour around the nation.

Four years ago in Germany the tournament drew 845,751 with 16 teams playing 32 games. That was an average of 26,430 per match.

The record is from USA 1999 that drew 1,194,215 (37,319 per match), a number Montopoli hopes Canada can hit prior to kickoff for the opening game June 6 in Edmonton.

“Our goal remains at 1.5 million for all 52 matches. It’s not that we have to sell 1.5 by June 6. We still have 30 days within the tournament and we know what it’s like when the tournament gets going.

“With over 625,000 and the snow starting to melt and people starting to think about what’s ahead this summer, we think we’re where we want to be in terms of reaching our end goal. At the end of the day it’s about filling the stadiums and I think we have a pretty good start.”

Montopoli, in the exclusive interview with your correspondent offered by far the first detailed breakdown of the numbers provided to date.

For starters he reported two sellouts, with another not far away.

The final in Vancouver has sold all 48,000 tickets available.

“I think that speaks volumes to the people across the country,” said Montopoli.

The second U.S.A. game in Winnipeg (versus Sweden, with the Americans going against their former World Cup and Olympic coach Pia Sundhage on a Friday night) has sold all of the 26,000 tickets available.

The other U.S.A. game in Winnipeg, versus Australia, is at 23,000 and will likely be the next sellout declared.

Hotels are already in short supply in Winnipeg.

“We’re finding a pattern. The U.S.A. matches are selling very, very fast.

“I have to say that United States consumers have bought a lot of tickets for the final in Vancouver. A lot of Americans are going to Winnipeg. A lot of Americans are going to Vancouver because they are playing their third match there. All those American games look like they’re going to be very early sellouts.

“If the United States ends up first in their group they would come and play in Edmonton in their Round of 16 game. And if Canada plays in our Round of 16 game in Vancouver and wins, our next game is in Edmonton. So these other games, until the opponent is determined, aren’t going to have their strongest ticket sales.”

The Americans may be buying tickets early but the ones from the rest of the world are just starting to kick in.

“We are starting to get our orders in now from the FIFA participating nations. We don’t have most of those numbers in. The FIFA hospitality package tickets are just starting to come in now as well.

“Initially, Montreal was slow but that’s starting to come on, with Brazil there, and Ottawa is coming on a bit with Germany involved,” said Montopoli.

Montreal at this stage is still selling lower-bowl tickets only in Olympic Stadium and tickets are available in virtually every section.

“Sales have been slower in Moncton. I have to say that,” said Montopoli of a stadium with temporary seats that may be configured as small as 15,000 with the disappointing start.

The focus for the next month, as it was planned from the beginning to tie in with the arrival of spring, will be ‘The Big Push’ in Edmonton.

You wouldn’t want to hold a FIFA World Cup in Canada and not get a sellout for the opener, especially in Edmonton where a sellout of the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup final in 2002 inspired this hosting in the first place.

Four years ago, Canada lost 2-1 to host Germany before 73,680 in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, the same stadium where the final of the 2006 World Cup was held. In 1999 the USA-Denmark open drew 78,972 to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford.

“It’ll be full,” said Montopoli of the June 6 opener in the next 54,000-seat configuration of Commonwealth Stadium.

“I promise you, it will be a full stadium,” said Montopoli.

“We’ve passed the 20,000 barrier and it’s now just over 22,000 for that first game.”

The numbers may sound low but the dollars are high.

Lower bowl centre stadium sections D, E, F, G, H, I, J K, U, T, R — all featuring $100-plus tickets for the more pricey opening ceremonies and Canada-China, New Zealand-Netherlands doubleheader — are already completely sold out.

And only a handful of seats remain in sections C, L, S, V and W.

Two end-zone ($35) sections are sold and two others are down to fewer than 100 seats remaining.

It’s the lower bowl corners and upper deck $50 seats where there’s plenty of choice.

It’s already about a $2 million gate. Tickets for the following games are much more reasonable.

“For the Canada matches we’re at about 40% sold,” he said of the pair of group-play games in Edmonton and one in Montreal, where virtually no sections have been sold out.

“That’s not a disappointment on our end. I want to stress that. It’s a reflection of a number of things. It’s been a harsh winter for many and up until now it hasn’t been reflective that they are looking to buy soccer tickets for June. But we are completely confident they will when we start ramping up the promotions in April.”

The Big Push in Edmonton starts today.

“We’re in Edmonton Friday announcing our new kit for the tournament. The mayor is about to announce a special initiative. We have plans to bring players and coaches in to Edmonton over the next six weeks. The Coca-Cola Trophy tour is coming into town. We have a lot of activities planned in Edmonton intentionally timed for this stage of the countdown.

“In the case of Edmonton, there’s the size of your stadium. It’s a little different than Winnipeg. The Winnipeg Stadium is going to be about 20,000 less than what we have in Edmonton.

“People in Edmonton may have a feeling they can wait until the day of the game. But my message is don’t wait, because we don’t think that will be the case.”

Eleven of the 52 games, including the June 6 opener in Edmonton, the June 11 Canada-versus-New Zealand game and a semifinal featuring Canada should the Olympic bronze medal winners get that far, are scheduled for Commonwealth Stadium. That’s the most of any of the six host cities for the first 32-team FIFA Women’s World Cup in history.

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terry.jones@sunmedia.ca