National Women's Soccer League ticket sales surged during World Cup run
The National Women’s Soccer League experienced a surge of ticket demand on the secondary market during the U.S. women’s national soccer team’s run to a second straight World Cup victory, according to one prominent platform.
From the start of the 2019 Women’s World Cup on June 7 to its conclusion on July 7, ticket sales for NWSL games rose 123 percent compared to the same period one year ago, according to Vivid Seats, a secondary market ticket site. With months to go in 2019, NWSL ticket orders on the site have already surpassed their total for all of 2018, and this year’s totals are higher than those of 2016, 2015 and 2014 combined.
The ticket sales spike is even more dramatic when compared to the last Women’s World Cup in 2015, which also ended in victory for the U.S. women’s national team. Ticket sales for NWSL games increased 907 percent during the 2019 World Cup period compared to the tournament’s one-month span in 2015.
“The USWNT’s second straight Women’s World Cup win seems to have resonated that much more with fans – perhaps due to the recent legal dispute and support for female athletes, particularly in soccer,” a Vivid Seats representative told FOX Business.
Aside from its World Cup win, the U.S. women’s national team has drawn widespread support for its ongoing legal dispute with U.S. Soccer. Members of the team are in the process of suing U.S. Soccer for gender-based pay discrimination.
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The NWSL is in the midst of its 2019 regular season, which runs through October. Most of the U.S. women’s national team roster, including stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, play for NWSL teams when not on national team duty.
NWSL games have drawn an average of 5,514 attendees so far this season, according to figures compiled by Soccer Stadium Digest.