The largest crowd to watch a football match in the U.S. -- 109,318 -- "poured into Michigan Stadium on Saturday" to see ManU beat Real Madrid 3-1 in a friendly, according to Andrew Both of REUTERS. The previous U.S. record attendance for a football match "was 101,799 at the 1984 Olympic final between France and Brazil at the Rose Bowl in California." The largest crowd ever to watch a football match was at the 1950 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro when 173,850 paying spectators "came to the Maracana for the Brazil-Uruguay final clash" (REUTERS, 8/3). In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg wrote Relevent "issued a press release early in the first half" of Liverpool's 2-0 win against AC Milan "declaring the game a sellout of 69,300" at Bank of America Stadium (CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/2). In Philadelphia, Mike Servedio wrote Inter Milan's 2-0 win against AS Roma at Lincoln Financial Field drew "a mere 12,169" (PHILLY SOCCER PAGE, 8/2). FOX SPORTS' Phil Ervin reported "an announced attendance of 34,047 watched" Superleague Greece side Olympiacos defeat Man City "in a 2-2 draw decided in a penalty-kick shootout" at TCF Bank Stadium (FOX SPORTS, 8/2). In Madrid, J.L. Guerrero reported Int'l Champions Cup organizer Relevent Sports CEO Charlie Stillitano said that Real Madrid "helped the tournament make tens of millions of dollars." Stillitano: "You only have to look at the stadiums, hotels, restaurants and bars. ... The best teams in the world come to this Cup because it is more than football. In 11 games, more than 400,000 people came to football stadiums. I don't know which team moves the most money in the world, but the ones that produce the most in the U.S., ManU and Real Madrid, are here" (AS, 8/3).
