Parramatta Stadium sell-out marks A-League resurgence

Parramatta Stadium has sold out all tickets for the A-League's first Sydney derby with a crowd of almost 21,000 expected for Saturday night's fixture between newcomers Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC.
The derby sell-out comes after Sydney FC's own record 35,000 home crowd for a regular season game last Saturday and marks a remarkable start to the A-League season.
Meanwhile, Fox Sports has reported a surge in television ratings for A-League games with average game ratings for the second week of competition coming close to a second consecutive round of 100,000 per game.
While Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph has called for the game to be moved to the larger capacity ANZ Stadium, Western Sydney Wanderers management are confident about keeping the game in Parramatta, despite additional potential revenue from playing at a bigger venue, arguing that the supporters had made clear they wanted the game played at the club's base.
Stadium industry insiders highlight that the sell-out crowd makes the game "the hottest ticket in town" and the exclusivity and demand in attending future Wanderers games will far outweigh the additional revenue from selling 5,000 or so additional tickets at the ANZ Stadium.
In addition, the atmosphere at a capacity Parramatt Stadium is seen to be better for football than playing at a partially full ANZ Stadium.
Meanwhile, another substantial crowd is also expected at Newcastle where the Jets host the Central Coast Mariners on Saturday.
Football Federation Australia Chief Executive Ben Buckley has welcomed the success of the new season but said the game had to make sure it built on the momentum of the early rounds.
Buckley explained "it's been a fantastic few weeks for certain with record crowds and record TV ratings.
"We've got some incredibly exciting contests coming up, but there's still a lot of hard work to do.
"We're only in round two and the clubs are working very hard to constantly improve. It's not just the clubs, it's the FFA, the A-League and the clubs working in partnership to grow the membership base, engage with the community and take advantage of the potential that exists."