Anticipation is building in Goleta among businesses and soccer fans for the World Cup games taking place in the United States, Mexico, and Canada in June and July. Already, the City of Goleta has set up a watch party for the Team Mexico game on June 24 — opponent as yet undetermined — with a big screen to view the match in the parking lot of Community West Bank at Pine Avenue in Old Town.
To welcome Team Austria, whose members are to stay at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara and practice on the turf at UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium, Goleta will be hanging banners of the team’s red-and-black logo with a line indicating a cheer in German. The team will hold a practice session on June 5 in a limited public viewing, reported Blake Markum of the city manager’s office during a council meeting on Tuesday. About 2,500 tickets are being distributed for the 17,000-seat venue — due to FIFA and Team Austria measures — with priority going to local soccer clubs and community partners.
For this and the other planned events, more information will come out over time, Markum indicated. UCSB will be handling the tickets, he said, in answer to requests from council members about how to see the public practice session. In a more serious vein, councilmembers James Kyriaco and Luz Reyes-Martín noted that public outreach should be at the street level and include the kids playing soccer who don’t belong to soccer clubs.
Mayor Paula Perotte and Reyes-Martín met with Austrian team representatives a few weeks ago as they toured Goleta. They expressed their excitement at training here, Reyes-Martín recalled, and were grateful for the friendly welcome they encountered in the community. “They were truly blown away,” she said.
The kickoff game on June 12 at 6 p.m. features Team U.S.A. versus Team Paraguay, and Goleta’s Community Center will be open for the live stream by 5:30 p.m. with free food truck food as long as supplies last, Markum said. Two “Meet Me in Old Town” events on June 17 and 24 will tie into the games — Colombia plays Uzbekistan on June 17 — at the Community West Bank parking lot. A live stream of the match will be accompanied by vendors and music.
As well as red-and-black banners sporting Team Austria’s Roman eagle logo, the city has met with businesses to organize “community activation events” to create a stir about “this once-in-a-lifetime event,” Markum said. About 40 businesses attended a meeting organized with the help of Visit Santa Barbara, to discuss watch parties, World Cup–themed specials, trivia nights, and other reasons to celebrate futbol at Goleta businesses.
As the World Cup winds down on July 19, a watch party is tentatively planned at the Community Center, Markum said, “as things get finalized.” Holding the games across three countries is a first, according to FIFA, as is the number of teams this year: 48. Ticket prices are hitting five digits with the face-value tickets in the hundreds all gone.
Correction: The updated story corrects the location of the Mexico game live stream and that only 2,500 tickets are available for the Austrian practice session, due to World Cup limitations.
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