COPA AMERICA CENTENARIO SOCCER TOURNAMENT TO BRING MORE THAN 75,000 FANS TO PHILADELPHIA

Tournament expected to be highest-attended men's soccer tournament in U.S. since 1994 World Cup

PHILADELPHIA, PA…June 8, 2016…The Copa America Centenario soccer tournament kicked off in the U.S. on Friday and will take place across 10 venues in the United States throughout the month of June. Philadelphia will host three first round match-ups during the historic tournament at Lincoln Financial Field including the Uruguay vs. Venezuela on Thursday, June 9, United States vs. Paraguay on Saturday, June 11 and Chile vs. Panama on Tuesday, June 14. The games are expected to draw more than 75,000 fans to the city over those three days, generating an economic impact of $41 million and impacting occupancy at area hotels. According to data from TravelClick, June 9, 11 and 14, are strong for Center City hotels, with all three days currently sitting above 90% occupancy. This is in large part due to the number of rooms the athletes, organizers, media, sponsors and fans are occupying, in addition to two conventions in town.

According to the Copa America Centenario Local Organizing Committee (LOC) the tournament is expected to be the best attended Copa America in its 100-year history and the highest-attended men's soccer tournament to come to the United States since the 1994 FIFA World Cup. More than 1 million tickets have already been sold for the 32 Copa America Centenario games, which will take place from June 3-26.

The Philadelphia games will featured some of the world's top-ranked teams. Full schedule:

• Thursday, June 9 Uruguay (#9 FIFA-ranked) vs. Venezuela (#77)
• Saturday, June 11  United States (# 31) vs. Paraguay (#44)
• Tuesday, June 14 Chile (# 5) vs. Panama (#56)

The tournament comes on the heels of the Men's and Women's Lacrosse Championships held last weekend at Lincoln Financial Field and Talen Energy Stadium. Those games drew more than 99,000 fans, consuming an estimated 22,000 hotel room nights in total and contributing to a record Memorial Day weekend for Center City hotels.

“Hosting events like the Copa America tournament and the Lacrosse championship not only allow us to raise our city's profile as a destination for sports but also to impact our area hotels and businesses. Big sporting events mean real economic impact for our city and we're thrilled to have the opportunity to host this historic tournament in Philadelphia,” said Larry Needle, executive director of PHL Sports, the division of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB) charged with working with the city's sports teams, universities and venues to bring sporting events to Philadelphia.

Source for statistics: DMAI's Event Impact Calculator (Sports Module) by Tourism Economics.

PHLSports, a business development division of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, seeks to attract major sporting events and conventions to the Philadelphia area. PHLSports , working in conjunction with the City of Philadelphia, the city's professional teams and universities, has attracted many events to the city and is currently working on bids for future sporting events. To learn more, visit www.discoverPHL.com/phlsports.