It – a mini-World Championship for the Western Hemisphere – starts on Thursday in the United States. It will stretch from coast to coast and captivate TV viewers across America. There will be megastars like Lionel Messi, plus a vibrant array of Latino flair.
One of the key questions, however, is: will regular fans in the host country care?
Millions of Mexican Americans and Colombian Americans, Argentine Americans and Venezuelan Americans will erupt in joy for the Copa América. Many of them know that this is perhaps the most competitive international men’s football tournament in the four-year gap between World Cups.
But the 2024 Copa América in particular is a novelty in a country that is largely unfamiliar with it.
So here is an attempt to familiarize you with the basic principles, the stories, the issues and the driving forces behind this unique event.
What is Copa America?
Copa América is the South American men’s soccer championship, a centuries-old competition between the continent’s ten national teams (and often others as well).
The cadence, size and format have varied over the years. Now it is a quadrennial tournament, similar to the European Championship (Euro), played in the summers of even-numbered years between the men’s World Cups.
It typically features 12 teams, two of which are invited from other continents. But in 2024 this will be temporarily expanded to 16. More about that below.
Is Copa America a big deal?
In South America, perhaps the most football-mad continent in the world, it’s a huge deal. It is historic, prestigious, anticipated, hotly contested and celebratory. For years it was big enough to accommodate .
This is less the case outside America. Its global footprint is dwarfed by its European equivalent, the euro. However, that is largely due to the economic power of Western Europe – and its willingness/greeds to commercialize and market the sport.
In essence, the two tournaments are similar. They are the biggest football clubs outside the World Cup: the hardest to win, the most lucrative, the most praised. And this year’s Copa América is in some ways even bigger.
How and why is this Copa América different? And who’s in it?
Struggling to find a satisfactory South American host, CONMEBOL – the ten-member South American Football Federation –, its North and Central American counterpart.
CONCACAF would help organize the 2024 edition in the United States; in return it would receive six spots in a field of 16 teams.
The men’s national teams of the US, Mexico, Canada, Panama, Costa Rica and Jamaica thus join the 10 traditional participants: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and Bolivia.
Who are the contenders to win this?
Argentina is favourite. We have.
Wait, so why is the 2024 Copa América in the US?
Copa América hosting duties typically change from one South American country to another – for example, from 1989 to 2011, each of CONMEBOL’s ten members hosted once.
In recent years, however, the COVID-19 pandemic and instability have disrupted the rotation, leaving organizers looking for stand-ins – first Brazil, and now the US.
In 2024 it would be Ecuador’s turn. But Ecuador, citing security and infrastructure problems, has abdicated responsibility. “We are not yet ready to host the Copa América,” Football Federation President Francisco Egas said in November 2022. With less than two years to go, CONMEBOL did not know where the 2024 championship would be played.
Brazil, his largest, richest and most capable deputy, seemed willing and able to host. But Brazil also hosted the previous two Copa Américas – first in 2019, in line with the standard rotation; and then in 2021, when Colombia and Argentina pulled out at the last minute.
So, driven by necessity but also drawn by financial and political benefits, CONMEBOL leaders turned to the United States. Discussions gained momentum during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. An agreement was reached and announced in early 2023.
Hasn’t there already been a Copa América in the US?
Yes, but it was even newer. It was a one-off ‘Centenario’ edition in 2016. That was not the case moved to the US; it was essentially created by the U.S. Soccer Federation, in partnership with CONMEBOL, a year after the regularly scheduled 2015 Copa América, as a cash grab and an opportunity to pit the U.S. Men’s National Team against elite opponents.
In practice, however, the 2016 and 2024 tournaments will be very similar. Same format; six of the same host cities; 15 of the same 16 teams.
How did the 2016 Copa América Centenario go?
It was quite successful. On the field, Chile defeated Argentina in a glamorous but brutal final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. 1.48 million tickets were sold in the stands, an average of around 46,000 per match. In total, the event generated a “one-time profit of approximately $80 million” for US Soccer then-Vice President Carlos Cordeiro.
Are fans excited about the 2024 Copa América?
That’s a complicated question.
In South America, fans are always excited about a Copa América, but some are not happy that their crown jewel has been shipped back to North America.
In North America, those who understand the seriousness and importance of the tournament seem excited; but many non-Latinos in and around the American soccer community believe the tournament has been poorly promoted and may fail to break through the crowded American sports scene.
CONMEBOL commercial chief Juan Emilio Roa told Yahoo Sports that an estimated 25-30% of match fans would come from South America; most of the rest will be US residents.
How are ticket sales going for the Copa América?
Roa told Yahoo Sports on June 7 that just over 1 million tickets had been sold – just over 31,000 per game. That’s about 50% of capacity for all games, most of which will be played in NFL stadiums.
Of course, matches with teams like Argentina and Mexico are almost or already sold out; others, however, can be quite empty.
How can I buy Copa América tickets?
By finding the stadium or game you want and paying handsomely.
One reason about 50% of tickets go unclaimed is that the prices are obscene for many. A single upper-deck ticket for Argentina’s opener against Canada, in the penultimate row of Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, costs $307 at the time of writing. Even for Peru-Chile at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, a standard 200-tier ticket costs $208 the next day. The average ticket price for the entire tournament is $283, according to Vivid Seats.
Why are tickets so expensive?
It is unclear who exactly is responsible for the obscene prices.
Roa confirmed that they are based on the ‘dynamic pricing model’ commonly used by US ticket brokers such as Ticketmaster and SeatGeek.
For a standard Copa América in South America, CONMEBOL would have full control over all aspects of the matchday experience, including ticket sales. But here they have had to work with a variety of interested (and capitalist) parties, stadium by stadium, city by city. Instead of selling tickets on a single platform, they’ve essentially delegated that task to each venue – some of which use Ticketmaster, and some of which use SeatGeek.
The complexity and somewhat last-minute nature of all these arrangements have been challenges, and are likely the reason tickets only went on sale at the end of February.
When and where are the matches?
They are spread across the US, in 14 different cities, with each hosting no more than three games.
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Will the Copa América be fun and successful?
Some matches, especially in the knockout rounds, have to be great. Others, among proud but less prominent teams trapped in cavernous NFL stadiums, will feel a little soulless.
The tournament as a whole will likely struggle to differentiate itself from all the other high-level soccer played in the United States this decade. But for CONMEBOL it will almost certainly be financially successful.
“The North American market is a great market, in terms of everything – in terms of viewership, in terms of sponsorship, in terms of exposure,” Roa said. The participation of the Mexican national team has probably allowed CONMEBOL to tap many millions of dollars.
“And it is certain that Argentina and Leo Messi playing in this Copa America… has increased interest around the world,” Roa added.
“We received phone calls, emails and contacts through our [commercial] agency, directly to CONMEBOL, from all over the world, like nunca antes, like never before,” Roa said. “Because they obviously have interests in the United States. And all the things that happen in the United States need another dimension.”
