In addition to the sell out crowd of over 35,000 for the home leg of the tie at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium on Wednesday night, New Zealand Football negotiated a significant television rights deal for the play-off with international broadcaster Univision.
The deal saw the tie broadcast in more than 130 countries around the world.
New Zealand Football interim Chief Executive Mark Aspden confirmed that the large surplus would help the organisation to continue to develop in all areas.
“Despite the on field result against Mexico, the money secured from the play-off tie allows us to move forward with confidence in our development plans for the game at all levels,” Aspden said.
“While we are hugely disappointed that we couldn’t secure a berth at the FIFA World Cup this time around – which was of course our overriding objective – this financial boost will greatly assist our sport over the next few years.”
“The benefits of this surplus will be seen from our grassroots development programmes right through to our elite teams as we continue to develop football on a sustainable basis.
“The passionate crowd at Wednesday’s match was proof of the depth of New Zealand’s support for the All Whites and for the sport in general.
“With the progress that the Football Ferns have been making, the fact that we will be hosting the FIFA Men’s U-20 World Cup in 2015 and the continuing growth in player numbers at junior levels, it is an exciting time for football in New Zealand.”
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