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The quarterfinal of the Netherlands against Argentina in Qatar leads to a boom in phone calls, emails and tickets for sale for concerts and other performances on Friday evening. People have to choose between the competition or the concert hall/theatre. And some organizers are faced with a major dilemma.
In the AFAS Theater in Leusden it starts on Friday at 8 p.m 14 the musical about the life of Johan Cruijff. Let that be the time when the Netherlands-Argentina kicks off. Martijn Delahaye, spokesperson for the theater, says that many telephone calls and e-mails have been received. “A lot of our audience loves football,” he says.
The theater has looked into whether the performance can be brought forward, but that turned out to be logistically impossible. And so the musical about the life of football hero Johan Cruijff will continue, although it will be less busy. “We are lenient with people who would like to come on another date. But how large the number no-shows will be is difficult to estimate,” says Delahaye.
Music Festival of the Year
At TicketSwap, an online marketplace for tickets, they no longer see people offering tickets across the board. Nevertheless, at the Music Party of the Year in the Ziggo Dome, it is clear to see that the Dutch are playing on Friday.
According to Simon Aurik of TicketSwap, since December 4 (the day the Netherlands qualified for the quarterfinals), there have been significantly more people who want to sell their tickets for the event, which starts at 8 p.m. on Friday. “We don’t see that for Saturday’s concert, so it really has to do with football,” says Aurik.
No large screens will be placed at the concert to watch the match, partly because a registration of the event will be shown on TV later this year.
There will also be no large screens in the Gelredome stadium in Arnhem, where the band Volbeat starts playing on Friday evening at 8 p.m. That writes the organization on the site. Visitors wonder whether the stadium will be full.
Not only at musicals and concert halls do they notice that the Dutch national team plays on Friday. It is also becoming clear in theaters that part of the audience prefers to watch football at home or in the pub on Friday.
Comedian Freek de Jonge was told that places would remain empty at his performance in Zierikzee because people have returned their tickets. But after a call, he quickly filled the room again. “In the end, the number of cancellations was still very good.”
The comedian, who is critical of the World Cup in Qatar, is happy that he can still play. Does the competition play a role during his performance? “It doesn’t matter, but a witticism is of course possible,” says De Jonge.
Schouwburg Het Park in Hoorn welcomes Waylon this Friday. The performance is sold out, but the director of the theater previously told the Noordhollands Dagblad that many people want to return their tickets.
“People who want to get rid of their ticket can send us an email and we will look at it in consultation with the artist, but I can’t promise anything,” he told the newspaper.
‘Low turnout’
The Wilminktheater in Enschede has canceled a performance as a precaution. “We were almost full, but we know from experience that the turnout during a European Championship or World Cup match is meager. That is why we decided on our own initiative to cancel the performance,” says Ellen Wisse of the Wilminktheater.
