By Adam Swift
The World Cup ended on Sunday, with Spain taking home the trophy as the best soccer team in the world.
In Chelsea Square, nearly 1,000 people gathered for the culmination of Chelsea’s month-long Fiesta Futbol celebration to watch Spain take home the Cup. But in the city, the party might only be getting started, as Chelsea officials are already planning the new Summer in the Square special events series.
Fiesta Futbol was a boon for the local community and for businesses in the area, according to Charlie Giuffrida, the city’s Director of Athletic Infrastructure and Sports Tourism.
“We were north of 12,000 to 13,000 visitors (to the Square),” he said. “The Finals (on Sunday), the drone couldn’t count all the people; I stopped counting at 1,500, so we were a little bit north of that.”
The city telecast nearly 60 of the World Cup matches on its new big screen in Chelsea Square. In addition to the finals, some of the most popular broadcasts included the other games featuring Lionel Messi and Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States.
“This has been phenomenal for youth soccer,” said Giuffrida. “This has been phenomenal not only for participation and marketing and awareness, but also we have had some companies reach out with sponsorships and now … we are still in preliminary talks … but we are talking tens of thousands of dollars of purchases going to these leagues and organizations now.”
From an economic standpoint, Giuffrida said the city does not have any hard data yet, but he has heard from business owners that everyone in the area who owns a bar made a good amount of money, and that restaurants that do not have a bar still saw a small uptick.
“By all accounts, it seems like it was a smashing success for Chelsea Square,” he said.
City Manager Fidel Maltez said the city started planning the Fiesta Futbol events in January with the help of funding approved by the city council.
“I think many of us were unsure of how it would go,” said Maltez, noting there were some concerns about public safety during the watch party events. “Even after we showed the first game, we were a little hesitant if people would show and if they would be interested in this, and if it would be a major emergency management issue. I think that was the most beautiful thing that I took away from this month-and-a-half experience – we brought in about 13,000 people into downtown Chelsea and we had zero incidents to report.
“Everyone was happy and excited to be there, there was no fighting, no incidents, no one was being disruptive,” continued Maltez. “It really showed what is possible in Chelsea Square and in Chelsea.”
Giuffrida said the city hopes to keep up the momentum with the Summer in the Square events, a series of free, public programming and community events in Chelsea Square that begins July 21 and will take place every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, throughout the entire month of August.
In addition, Giuffrida said there are talks and plans underway to broadcast other major league sporting events in Chelsea Square throughout the year.