April 10 – A new attendance record was set in the iconic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City for the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League semi-final between Mexican giants Club America and Costa Rica’s Herediano this week.
66,208 packed into the Azteca to see Club America win 6-0 and progress to the final against Canada’s Montreal Impact. The first leg of the final will be played in the Azteca April 23 with the second leg in Montreal on April 30.
Club America had entered the second leg of the semi-final 3-0 down after the away fixture in Costa Rica and set a second record by becoming the first team to overcome a 3-0 first leg deficit in the semi-finals.
The previous highest attendance record for the Champions League was in 2009 when Montreal Impact hosted Santos in the quarter-finals in front of 55,571 in Montreal’s Stade Olympique.
The new attendance record will be music to the ears of CONCACAF who have been aggressively building the Champions League as their premium club competition.
CONCACAF announced Scotiabank as the first official partner of its revamped sponsorship programme last December. In an initial four-year deal, the bank became the title sponsor of the CONCACAF Champions League, the official bank of the confederation, and a main sponsor of the Gold Cup.
Scotiabank will also be pleased with the Azteca numbers as Mexico is a targeted market for this sponsorship.
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