As of four days ago, only 6,000 tickets had been sold for Tuesday night’s match between the United States and Colombia at Chester, PA’s PPL Park. (By comparison, a stadium-record 18,779 fans watched last Thursday’s game between the Philadelphia Union and the Los Angeles Galaxy.) Are Americans tiring of soccer matches?
Perhaps. Although almost 32,000 people showed up to Saturday’s fixture between the U.S. and Poland in Chicago, most of those fans were there to see the visiting team. A friend was at the match and noted the overwhelming Polish majority: “Remember how we were slightly outnumbered at the Turkey game? Well, we were incredibly outnumbered here. When my brother and I walked down the aisle a Polish fan turned to me and said ‘No USA fans allowed.'”
It’s been a great summer for soccer in the States, but it seems that people – especially fans in the Northeast where the U.S. has played multiple times in the last 18 months – need a break. Of course, a big walk-up crowd on Tuesday night could help attendance figures. Or US Soccer could always go the fake fan route.