Quote:
Originally Posted by shermanator
I will counter with the following question....
...why is a Canadian city the size of Edmonton hosting a friendly between a Welsh team and a Spanish team? A city which has completely failed to support their local team in all but probably two games in the last 9 years?
And while not 60000, Regina drew 15000 for a friendly between the New York Cosmos and Valencia in 2017. So a smaller city drew 3 times as many people for a random Spanish team vs an American team.
https://leaderpost.com/sports/soccer...aws-15000-plus |
Because they have the stadium to host major soccer events, as they have done in the past. Ronaldo also played at Commonwealth in 1994, and he owns Valladolid, so there is probably something to be said about running an exhibition in Edmonton with his input. Junior Hoilett also pressed Cardiff hard for a game in Canada as well. You have to think he also played the Alfonso Davies card, wanting to show Premier/La Liga level talent on home soil to get exposure for the 2026 World Cup. It was also Soccer Week in Edmonton.
If there was an issue about the Cardiff/Valladolid game in Edmonton regarding attendance, I didn't see it unless you consider not using the upper bowl and the lower side sections as a problem. The west side of Commonwealth was also far more full, as people bought tickets on that side to avoid having the sun in their eyes. When I was in line, every walk-up ticket was for the West side of the stadium.
I think marketing was an issue for this game (I only knew about it from the flags on Gateway Boulevard), so perhaps there is a lot of legwork to be done there.