Empty Seats and Slashed Prices: A Shaky Start for FIFA's Club World Cup?

By: Rylee McKinney

Chelsea versus LAFC for Group-Stage match (Photo courtesy of The Athletic)

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup recently kicked off on June 14th at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami with Al Ahly SC facing off against Inter Miami CF, marking the start of the expanded 32-team tournament. What should have been a highly anticipated tournament resulted in disappointing expectations of soccer fans worldwide. Fans took to social media to expose empty stadium plazas and empty seats.

Ahead of the Club World Cup, FIFA, under president Gianni Infantino, allocated over $50 million on marketing to promote the tournament in the United States. With an extensive focus on social media, FIFA has dedicated significant time and effort toward fan engagement. 

The noise surrounding the Club World Cup dramatically increased when the Seattle Sounders were spotted wearing a “World Cup Cash Grab” shirt in warmups for a regular MLS season match. The Major League Soccer Players' Association (MLSPA) simultaneously released a statement in support of the players, calling for a fair share of the prize money. 

After very few developments in negotiations between MLSPA, MLS, and FIFA, MLSPA released a follow-up statement. The statement revealed that MLS’s response failed to respect players’ efforts. 

Yet, with less than 25,000 tickets sold for Inter Miami vs Al Ahly SC leading up to the match, FIFA desperately needed a solution. That solution: slashing ticket prices. 

Back in December, tickets through Ticketmaster were a minimum of $349 a ticket. By the start of June, FIFA revealed they would be slashing prices to a minimum of $55 a ticket. FIFA even included several discounted and complimentary ticket packages for veterans and college students for several of the group stage games. 

FIFA’s strategy luckily worked as the first match saw 60,927 in attendance at Hard Rock Stadium, which has a max capacity of 65,326. However, the next matches in the tournament have been hot and cold with attendance. Bayern Munich’s match against Auckland City FC had 21,152 fans out of a potential 26,000-seat stadium. Paris Saint-Germain’s match versus Atlético Madrid saw 80,619 fans. 

Despite attendance successes for those matches, a surreal amount of seats were left open for Sunday’s matches, with Palmerias versus FC Porto clocking in at 46,275 out of the 82,500 seats in MetLife Stadium. As for the match between Seattle Sounders and Botafogo, the stadium filled only 30,151 seats out of 68,740 at Lumen Field. Then, on Monday, Chelsea's match versus Los Angeles FC only saw a turnout of 21,327 spectators.

On social media, fans have made several speculations about why so many seats have been left open. Some fans believe that the disconnect between the FIFA calendar and Premier League, MLS, and La Liga teams is putting a strain on players, and these fans do not want to support the Club World Cup. Others have commented on the US’s recent immigration policies under President Donald Trump, offering that the presence of Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) at matches might be turning away fans. 

As the tournament progresses, all eyes will be looking at match attendance. The debate over whether or not FIFA has done enough to promote the Club World Cup remains, as attendance fluctuates with every match.