Women's World Cup sponsor offers 20,000 free tickets amid sale concerns in New Zealand
Majority of 1.25 million tickets sold have been for matches in Australia
A sponsor for the FIFA Women’s World Cup is offering 20,000 free tickets amid concerns over the lack of sales in one of the tournament’s host nations.
Xero, a New Zealand-based accounting firm, announced Thursday that 5,000 tickets would be offered for each match set to be played in the four venues in New Zealand as it co-hosts the World Cup later this month with Australia.
Hannah Wilkinson, Rebekah Stott, Katie Bowen, CJ Bott and Ali Riley of the New Zealand Football Ferns celebrate during the International Friendly match with and Vietnam on July 10, 2023 in Napier, New Zealand. (Kerry Marshall/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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According to the Associated Press, ticket sales in Australia are significantly higher. Of the 1.25 million already sold for the tournament, only 320,000 have been sold for matches in New Zealand.
"In Australia, [the national team is] the darlings of the country. Sam Kerr is an absolute superstar and the whole country is in love with football because of the Matildas," FIFA's chief women's football officer Sarai Bareman said last month via Reuters.
Fans at the Australian Commbank Matildas Women's World Cup squad announcement and presentation at Federation Square. (Chris Putnam/Future Publishing via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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"There’s that selling power that the Matildas have that we don’t quite have here yet in New Zealand with the Football Ferns."
Australia is largely considered a serious title contender this year, while New Zealand’s Football Ferns have never won a World Cup group match.
New Zealand supporters cheer during the France 2019 Women's World Cup Group E football match between Cameroon and New Zealand, on June 20, 2019, at the Mosson Stadium in Montpellier, France. (PASCAL GUYOT/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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"Naturally, there are some games that are experiencing higher demand with the Kiwis and some of the top-ranked teams," Women’s World Cup chief executive Dave Beeche recently told the New Zealand Herald, "but we’re happy with how the progress is overall."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.