The Copa América ended with Argentina as the champion and many doubts about the organization of the event, which was in the hands of Conmebol in alliance with Concacaf. There were security issues, most of the fields were in poor condition, and despite using NFL stadiums, they were not always full, leaving another black mark on the championship.
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The best example was the match for third place, between Uruguay and Canada, at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte where only 24,386 spectators attended in a venue that has a capacity for 74,867. Only 32.6% of the available seats were occupied, the lowest figure in the entire Copa America.
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According to an article from the newspaper La Tercera of Chile, citing Flashscore, in the group stage, 25% of the tickets that were for sale were not used. In the quarterfinals, the figure slightly decreased to 23%. This is a very high percentage compared to the 2.7% of Euro 2024.
There could be several explanations for this: lack of promotion, the still low interest of the American public in soccer (MLS teams play in venues a quarter of the size of NFL stadiums), not all resident communities are the same, and long distances complicated and made logistics more expensive for fans.
Which was the game that attracted the most people?
The first-round match between Argentina and Chile, held at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey but used by the NFL teams from New York, had the highest attendance of the entire Copa America with 81,107.
Another match closely follows in the same stadium: Argentina vs Canada in one of the semifinals, with 80,102 people. This shows that watching Leo Messi and the world champion team was one of the major attractions of the tournament. In fact, out of the six matches of the Argentine national team, five are in the Top 10 in attendance.
This is the Top 10 of the matches with the highest attendance in the tournament:
- Argentina vs Chile: 81,107 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
- Argentina vs Canada (semifinals): 80,102 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
- Venezuela vs Mexico: 72,773 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
- Colombia vs Brazil: 70,971 at Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco.
- Colombia vs Uruguay: 70,644 at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
- Argentina vs Canada (first round): 70,564 at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
- Argentina vs Ecuador: 69,456 at NRG Stadium in Houston.
- Brazil vs Costa Rica: 67,158 at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
- Colombia vs Paraguay: 67,049 at NRG Stadium in Houston.
- Argentina vs Colombia: 65,300 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami (that was the total number of tickets sold).
The games where there weren't many people.
On the other hand, there were nine matches with attendances below 30,000 people, but several of them were played in smaller venues exclusive to soccer within the Major League Soccer.
For example, 20,240 people went to see Venezuela vs Jamaica, but the Q2 Stadium in Austin was packed with fans.
Otherwise, the 24,074 spectators who watched Ecuador vs Jamaica at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and occupied 37% of the capacity of a venue built for 65,000 people. Similar to what happened with Uruguay vs Canada in Charlotte.
The matches with the lowest attendance in the Copa America were Panama vs Bolivia at the Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando (16,129 spectators), Peru vs Canada at the Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City (15,625), and Costa Rica vs Paraguay at the Q2 Stadium in Austin (12,765), all of them played in MLS stadiums.