Plenty of ticket options and prices for Women’s World Cup

TORONTO — From a preliminaryround doubleheader for as low as $20 to a $165 premium ticket for the final, there is no shortage of ticket options for the Women’s World Cup.

While ticket packages went on sale in September, organizers Tuesday released the pricing structure for individual tickets in six Canadian cities this summer.

Individual tickets go on sale worldwide at noon ET on Feb. 26, 100 days before the opening match of the 24-team tourney. Visa holders can opt for a pre-sale starting Feb. 6.

Tickets will be available online (see www.FIFA.com/Canada2015 for more information) or via phone.

The 52-match tournament runs June 6 to July 5 in Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver.

The preliminary-round features 15 doubleheaders and six single matches. The knockout rounds consists of 16 individual matches.

Ticket prices vary. The cost for the Canada-China opening game June 6 at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium is $50, $80, $95 or $115, but that also includes a match between New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Contrast that with a preliminaryround doubleheader in Ottawa, where the range is $20.15 to $80.

“It’s an inclusionary sport, accessible sport and we wanted to make sure we translate that into our ticket sales program,” said Peter Montopoli, general-secretary of Canada Soccer.

The prices rise as the event goes on. The cheapest ticket in Vancouver, for example, goes from $20.15 for a group match to $40 for the round of 16, $45 for a quarter-final and $50 for the final. The full range of tickets for the final at B.C. Place Stadium is $50, $85, $125 and $165.

The semifinals are set for Montreal and Edmonton, with Commonwealth Stadium also hosting the third-place game.

More than half of tickets for the final have already been snapped up. Those who bought so-called stadium passports, which include tickets for every game at a stadium, had first crack at getting tickets for the final.

More than 400,000 tournament tickets have already been sold.

Canada Soccer’s attendance target for the tournament is 1.5 million, which is a little misleading in that it counts fans at both games of a doubleheader even though one ticket offers access to both games.

In 2007, the total number of spectators at the men’s FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada was 1,195,239 for 52 matches. Total attendance for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 was 288,588.