New Zealand and England could be playing in front of more than 50,000 empty seats for a warm-up match ahead of the World Cup.
Only 13,000 tickets have been sold in total for the fixture next week at the 69,000-seat Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The cheapest tickets have been priced at £54 (NZD$122) – significantly less than prices at the tournament which begins on June 11.
So far 12,000 tickets have been purchased for England’s second friendly against Costa Rica in a 25,000-seater stadium in Orlando. But England fans appear to be saving their dollars for the main event which is by far the most expensive World Cup in history.
England’s three World Cup group games are against Croatia in Dallas on June 17, Ghana in Boston on June 23 and Panama in New Jersey on June 27.
There are about 3500 England fans travelling with the official allocation – but officers estimate there will be 10,000 or more trying to buy tickets via other routes. Around 1000 will travel to each game with the Football Association’s allocation, which will include families of players.
