Pan Am Games organizers said that they "sold more than 20,000 tickets" on Saturday during the first full day of competition in Toronto, numbers suggesting locals "have begun to embrace the oft-maligned multi-sport enterprise," according to Sean Fitz-Gerald of the NATIONAL POST. Organizing Committee CEO Saad Rafi said that as of yesterday morning, more than 850,000 tickets had "been sold -- from a pool of 1.2 million available" for the games. The Opening Ceremony on Friday "filled Rogers Centre, with thousands more watching on a screen in front of Toronto city hall." And as the event "got underway, some athletes competed in front of packed houses." But other events were "less so." Rafi said it is "not going to be easy to fill a 24,000-seat stadium" for every preliminary. And we've been open about that." Rafi conceded there was "sparse" attendance for some of the early sessions. But he said that those numbers "usually swell when a Canadian team appears on the field" (NATIONAL POST, 7/13). In Ontario, Teri Pecoskie noted the Games' soccer competition kicked off Saturday at CIBC Pan Am Stadium in Toronto, and organizing committee Venue GM Kelly Smith said that "excluding walk-up ticket sales, around 4,000 people were expected for the opener" between Colombia and Mexico. Smith said that the "relatively sparse crowd was a good way for her team to test out operations." Smith: "I think it went pretty well. It's just getting all our systems down and everyone figuring out where they need to go." Pecoskie notes there were "still a few challenges at the concessions, which were only open on the lower concourses." At halftime, some fans "waited in line for more than 30 minutes to get snacks and water" (HAMILTON SPECTATOR, 7/13).
LET'S GET IT STARTED: NBCSPORTS.com's Nick Zaccardi noted former NBAer Steve Nash "was the man tapped" to light the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony, receiving the flame from T'Wolves F Andrew Wiggins. Other Canadians involved in the Opening Ceremony included Hockey HOFers Bobby Orr and Mark Messier, along with Baseball HOFer Fergie Jenkins (NBCSPORTS.com, 7/11).
