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“Of course, we’d like to have some more ticket sales,” Vansen said at a news conference. “Those are happening every single day, in the thousands.”

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The Pan Am Games are a quadrennial multi-sport event open to athletes in 41 competing countries across the Americas, with close to 7,000 athletes expected to participate. This is Canada’s third turn as host, with Winnipeg having staged the event in 1967 and in 1999.

Ontario won the right to stage the Games six years ago, and organizers have struggled to build much excitement. Congested highways have been made worse, with lanes reserved for high occupancy vehicles in an effort to help athletes and Games officials move around the gridlocked city. Interest, especially inside Toronto, has been difficult to detect.

A similar story unfolded around the Games four years ago in Guadalajara, with concerns over cost overruns dominating discussion before the athletes arrived. As interest swelled, long lines snaked outside a temporary box office in the city.

It remains to be seen whether the pattern will repeat in Toronto.

Vansen said some of the larger venues will be the most difficult to fill, especially for the preliminary matches. The new stadium in Hamilton — the new home for the Tiger-Cats — will feature plenty of empty seats for early-round soccer games not featuring Canada.