FIFA’s last-ditch plan as low attendance and plummeting prices tarnish the tournament’s image
With the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup semifinals approaching—Fluminense vs Chelsea on Tuesday, July 8, and Real Madrid vs Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, July 9—the global governing body is facing a much bleaker scenario than it had hoped for. Stadiums have remained half-empty throughout the tournament, with U.S. fans showing little interest in what was meant to be a flagship event.
What FIFA had envisioned as a celebration of club football has, in reality, fallen flat. To salvage the spectacle, the organization has resorted to emergency tactics, including drastic ticket price cuts, in a desperate effort to preserve the tournament’s TV appeal—and its credibility in the eyes of sponsors and broadcasters ahead of future editions.
The scale of the problem is striking. According to The Athletic, the face value for a ticket to the Chelsea–Fluminense semifinal at MetLife Stadium dropped from $473.90 last Wednesday to $44.60 by Friday, bottoming out at just $13.40 on Saturday morning. That’s a 97.2% drop in three days. “A fan,” the New York Times-owned publication noted, “could have bought a ticket on Saturday for just 2.8% of the original FIFA price.”
This wasn’t an isolated case. Tickets for the other semifinal between PSG and Real Madrid—also at MetLife—followed a similar trajectory: from $978 on Wednesday to $199.60 by Saturday, followed by a brief uptick and another decline. The market clearly overestimated demand.
Attendance figures tell the same story. Group stage matches averaged around 35,000 spectators per game. While a few contests came close to selling out, many others were played in front of large swaths of empty seats. For the quarterfinals, FIFA slashed prices even further—$11 tickets for Friday’s two matches, and $44 for PSG–Bayern, which drew 66,937 fans (89% of capacity). Chelsea–Palmeiras and Fluminense–Al Hilal, however, saw much more modest fill rates, hovering around 66%.
In an effort to at least make the stands look fuller, FIFA reportedly deployed another tactic. According to The Athletic, volunteers were emailed last week and offered four free tickets each for all quarterfinal matches—except Real Madrid–Borussia Dortmund. Recipients were asked not to wear their volunteer uniforms during the games so they could blend in with regular fans, giving the impression of a more packed stadium.
This wasn’t part of the original plan. Volunteers were previously told during training sessions they would not receive free tickets. The abrupt change suggests FIFA acted out of panic, likely in response to dismal sales reports and mounting media pressure.
All of this despite a massive marketing push: FIFA poured over $50 million into promoting the tournament via social media campaigns, influencer partnerships, traditional advertising, and cross-promotions tied to ticket packages for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, also set to be held in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Still, the execution has been marred by missteps. Many of the stadiums selected—mostly large NFL venues—have proven too big for actual demand. Even with steep discounts, fan turnout has often been underwhelming. Crowds have been quiet, engagement low, and genuine enthusiasm hard to come by.
The opening match between Inter Miami and Al-Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium set the tone: to draw a crowd, FIFA distributed $20 tickets to local college students and offered up to four free entries per person. But the initiative failed to generate meaningful engagement. Filling seats is one thing; sparking passion is another.
All signs point to the same conclusion: FIFA’s ambition to turn the Club World Cup into a global spectacle on par with the Champions League or national team World Cup remains far from reality. In the U.S.—where men’s soccer still fights for mainstream attention—the tournament has exposed the limits of a product that is both too young to inspire loyalty and initially too expensive to attract casual fans.
Dynamic pricing, managed through Ticketmaster, has turned tickets into volatile commodities—prices changing by the hour. But the fire-sale effect—where a seat costs less than a beer or hot dog—may ultimately damage the tournament’s credibility among supporters and the media. And since this same flexible pricing model is expected to be used for the 2026 World Cup, the warning signs this summer should not be ignored.
For now, FIFA’s priority is filling seats for the final three matches: two semifinals and a championship game that, on paper, promise elite football. But if they unfold in front of echoing, half-empty stands padded with plainclothes volunteers, the issue will go beyond logistics or marketing. It’ll be one of identity. And not even Gianni Infantino will be able to pretend otherwise.
Club World Cup 2025 – Upcoming Semifinals (Local Time – Italy)
Tuesday, July 8 – 9:00 PM: Fluminense vs Chelsea
Wednesday, July 9 – 9:00 PM: Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Madrid
L’articolo FIFA Club World Cup: Few Sellouts and Slashed Ticket Prices Ahead of the Semifinals proviene da Soccer Made In Italy.
