Ticket sales slow for USMNT's vital World Cup qualifier
The United States' World Cup lives will be on the line Tuesday when they square off against Guatemala at MAPRE Stadium in Columbus, OH. Unfortunaterly, it doesn't look like they'll have a great crowd backing them.
As of Sunday, only 17,000 tickets had been sold for the match at a 24,000-seat stadium.
The small crowd would be especially notable considering the great support the U.S. had last World Cup qualifying cycle. The Americans sold out every home match that time around except for two - both of which were played in NFL stadiums and drew over 40,000 and 20,000 respectively.
Declining crowds have been the norm for the U.S. over the last year. They drew just 29,308 for a friendly agsinst Brazil in September, a high profile clash that has drawn double when they've played before. Worse, only 9,214 showed up to see the Americans play Costa Rica in friendly last October, with many in attendance cheering for the Ticos.
Some have speculated that ever-increasing ticket prices are contributing to the number of the empty seats at stadiums. The lack of weekend matches also certainly hurts. But there is also the matter of the team struggling and playing generally uninspiring soccer.
It was one thing when people failed to show for friendlies, but now they are passing on qualifiers too. This one is at a stadium that has always provided great support for the team and sold out twice in the last qualifying cycle, including a Tuesday match against Jamaica in this same round. A full house welcomed an American team that also needed a win to advance from the semifinal round of qualifying in 2012, and they sang and chanted for 90 minutes. Those in attendance might also do that on Tuesday, but odds are there won't be as many of them. MAPFRE Stadium looks unlikely to be sold out, and the U.S. will play a crucial World Cup qualifier in front of empty seats in the one place they have long been able to count on magnificent support.
