Relocated San Jose World Cup watch parties moved for Mexico, Brazil matches quickly sell out
Anticipating large turnout and security concerns, San Jose city officials moved watch parties for Sunday's Round of 16 World Cup matches out of San Pedro Square to two larger venues, which were sold out within hours.
The city announced on Friday morning that Sunday's watch parties would be moved to Discovery Meadow and the SAP Center, and indicated that free tickets would be required to enter. As of early Friday afternoon, both ticketing websites showed no tickets remained available.
Sunday's Round of 16 matches are Brazil vs. Norway, scheduled at 1 p.m. PDT and Mexico vs. England, scheduled for 5 p.m. PDT. Local reports in Mexico indicate FIFA was in talks to move the Mexico vs. England match to 11 a.m. PDT because of inclement weather concerns, although FIFA has not confirmed the any match time changes on the official FIFA World Cup website.
Restaurants and bars in San Pedro Square will remain open on Sunday.
"We're showing the rest of the country what it means to be a soccer city," Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement. "On the eve of historic matchups between Mexico and England, and Brazil and Norway, we're opening larger venues where fans and families can come together and celebrate safely."
Discovery Meadow will show both the Brazil vs. Norway match and the Mexico vs. England match, while the SAP Center will show Mexico vs. England.
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"Our teams across the City, and our partners, moved quickly to stand up two larger venues in a matter of days. That's what San José does — we deliver for our community," said assistant city manager Lee Wilcox.
The announcement of new venues comes as the watch parties at San Pedro Square have drawn large crowds to downtown since the start of the World Cup. Officials said 400,000 people have attended celebrations at the square.
Recent parties have been marred by violence in the area. On Sunday, one person was killed and another was injured in a shooting a block away from the square.
Two days later, a celebration following Mexico's victory over Ecuador became unruly, as two people were stabbed and multiple fights occurred. Several people were arrested.
Officials said parties at San Pedro Square will resume on Monday, as Portugal faces Spain and the United States faces Belgium in their Round of 16 matches.
