MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Canada is best known for its winter sports, but along with the U.S. and Mexico, it's hosting this year's World Cup, which starts tomorrow. Sheena Rossiter reports from Edmonton on World Cup fever starting to take hold.
UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER FANS: (Chanting) Canada.
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UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER FANS: (Chanting) Canada.
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SHEENA ROSSITER, BYLINE: Team Canada fans gather in a bar in downtown Edmonton ahead of one of the pre-World Cup friendly matches.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Who's ready to kick off the World Cup season?
(CHEERING)
ROSSITER: Traditionally, this hasn't been a familiar scene in Canadian bars. Fans gathered supporting the men's soccer team.
IAN RACINE: It's so nice to see the enjoyment of the beautiful game here. There are so many people that are thrilled and excited.
ROSSITER: Ian Racine (ph) is among those fans. Decked from head to toe in the Team Canada kit, he's a fierce supporter of his national team, something that wasn't always in vogue.
RACINE: For years and years, soccer fans in Canada were supporting England or Italy or France or Argentina. Now you're getting to see kids walking around the streets wearing Alphonso Davies jerseys. There's potential in Canada right now.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Canada gold at Tokyo 2020.
ROSSITER: Canada's women have long carried the game - decades of dominance and Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold. They even hosted the Women's World Cup in 2015 to roaring acclaim. Yet now, with ticket prices through the roof, even die-hard fans might be shut out of the stadiums in the two Canadian host cities.
ROB NOTENBOOM: It feels like the business aspect of the game has taken precedent over every other aspect of the game in the lead-up to this World Cup.
ROSSITER: Rob Notenboom is president of The Voyageurs, a national soccer fan club. He says that the high ticket prices are taking away from real fans.
NOTENBOOM: The paying market is not the only aspect of this that needs to be considered. The good of the game and the players and the fan experience should also be something that gets a bit of a higher priority.
ROSSITER: Tickets in Vancouver and Toronto have soared into the thousands, with some topping 3,000 Canadian dollars - that's over 2,000 U.S. dollars - for a single seat. With stadiums reportedly half full ahead of Canada's opener against Bosnia, prices are expected to drop. Still, with the spotlight on the host nation, the World Cup could give the sport a major boost across Canada.
UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER FANS: (Chanting) Ole, ole.
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UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER FANS: (Chanting) Ole, ole, ole.
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ROSSITER: Tim Adams is the founder and executive director of Free Play for Kids, an Edmonton-based charity that empowers kids through sports like soccer. He was also the vice chair for the Edmonton bid to be a host city for this World Cup.
TIM ADAMS: Canada is this great multicultural country that celebrates people from all around the world, and we have all this amazing athletic and mental talent here that we never tap into.
ROSSITER: He hopes the global presence of this tournament will leave a social legacy and help grow the game on home pitches.
ADAMS: I'm sure this event will really help put a spotlight on that, hey, what's in Canada? If we have a great performance, that spotlight will get bigger and bigger.
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UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER FANS: (Chanting) Ole, ole, ole, ole, ole.
ROSSITER: In their only two World Cup appearances, Canada's men have yet to win a game. If World Cup fever is to stick, they'll need to start winning to advance beyond the group stage. But as every follower of the beautiful game knows, where there's passion, there's hope.
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UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER FANS: (Vocalizing).
ROSSITER: For NPR News, I'm Sheena Rossiter in Edmonton.
(SOUNDBITE OF UNKLE AND IAN BROWN SONG, "BE THERE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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