FIFA is facing a challenging start to its revamped 32-team Club World Cup. Ticket sales for the opening match between Inter Miami and Al-Ahly remain sluggish.

This is occurring despite aggressive price reductions. The match is set for June 14 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The stadium has a capacity of 65,326. This event was initially expected to be a blockbuster kickoff. Lionel Messi, one of soccer’s biggest stars, was headlining.

Key Takeaways:

• Ticket prices have dropped dramatically:
  • Initial prices were up to $349 after the December draw.
  • Now, the cheapest tickets are going for $55 on Ticketmaster.
  • This reflects a dynamic pricing model FIFA is using, where prices fluctuate based on demand.
• Sales are reportedly well below expectations:
  • Some sources suggest fewer than 20,000 tickets have been sold. FIFA denies this claim. They assert a “much higher” number without providing specifics.
• FIFA’s strategy questioned:
  • Staging the game in Inter Miami’s home market was expected to boost attendance. Critics argue it might have made Messi and the team less of a novelty than if they had played elsewhere.
  • There’s also concern that local fans may be resistant to paying inflated prices, especially at a non-regular home stadium (Hard Rock vs. Chase Stadium).
• Other matches show mixed pricing strategies:
  • Inter Miami vs. Palmeiras (June 25): starting at $113.
  • Inter Miami vs. Porto in Atlanta (June 19): starting at $58.

FIFA is banking on a final-week marketing push and the draw of Messi to turn things around. But the situation highlights the growing pains of expanding the Club World Cup into a major, U.S.-based global tournament—and raises doubts about the pricing model’s effectiveness in unfamiliar soccer markets.

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FIFA’s billion-dollar gamble to revolutionise club football begins a week on Sunday with plenty of cash up for grabs but questionable enthusiasm as 32 teams prepare to contest the expanded Club World Cup in 12 stadiums across the United States.

The tournament – designed as a glittering showcase ahead of the 2026 World Cup – has had to contend with the prospect of empty seats along with controversial qualification rules and player welfare concerns after an exhausting European season.

Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami face Egypt’s Al Ahly in the opening fixture on June 15 at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, with tickets still widely available days before kickoff.

A glance at FIFA’s website shows lots of tickets available, including for the July 13 final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.

Messi’s presence underscores the tournament’s contentious foundations.

Inter Miami gained entry by topping Major League Soccer’s regular season standings, despite losing in the first round of the playoffs – a decision critics say shows FIFA’s desperation to have the Argentina great at their inaugural showpiece.

FIFA’s decision to give the host nation a spot and award it to Inter Miami underlined the opaque nature of the qualifying criteria for the tournament, which won’t feature Liverpool, Barcelona or Napoli who have all just been crowned champions of three of the most prestigious leagues in Europe.

Apart from the winners of each confederation’s premier club competitions, teams qualified according to a ranking based on their performances over a four-year period.

There is also the case of Club Leon, the 2023 CONCACAF Champions Cup winners, who were excluded from the tournament just over a month ago due to having shared ownership with another qualifier. The spot has gone to MLS’s Los Angeles FC.

RIGHTS DEAL

Nailing down a last-gasp $1 billion TV rights deal with sports streaming platform DAZN six months before the tournament means a total of $2 billion in expected revenues.

That led FIFA to announce a total prize pot of $1 billion, with the winning club to receive up to $125 million.

That figure represents 25% more than Paris St Germain earned from their entire 17-match Champions League campaign.

But this largesse has not quelled concerns about player welfare, with the global players union FIFPro taking legal action against FIFA over a tournament that further compresses the precious recovery time between gruelling seasons.

Furthermore there is still concern over the playing surfaces after last season’s Copa America, when many headlines focused on the sub-par conditions and smaller pitch dimensions.

Those pitches, measuring 100 by 64 metres, were 740 square metres smaller than FIFA’s standard size, prompting widespread discontent among players and coaches.

FIFA has given assurances that this time the NFL stadiums hosting the matches will meet their specifications, confirming that all venues will feature natural grass and adhere to the standard regulation dimensions of 105 by 68 metres.

Divided into eight groups of four teams, top contenders include Real Madrid, winners of six of the last 12 Champions League titles, plus German champions Bayern Munich and 2023 Premier League and Champions League winners Manchester City.

European champions Paris St Germain are the in-form team heading into the tournament after their historic 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan in the Champions League final on Saturday.

But they must survive a tough Group B featuring South American and Brazilian champions Botafogo and 2024 CONCACAF winners Seattle Sounders plus Spanish giants Atletico Madrid.

Whether you call it soccer or football, for FIFA the tournament represents a dress rehearsal and a referendum on America’s appetite for the sport and on the world governing body’s vision for its commercial future ahead of the 2026 World Cup being co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

-Reuters

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From multiple sources, speculations are rife that the Moroccan side, Wydad Casablanca, intends to secure the services of the Portuguese star, Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the Club World Cup holding in the US.

The club has just announced the departure of their head coach, Rhulani Mokwena, by mutual agreement.

One source, Marca, a Spanish publication, reports that the Casablanca club would like to enlist Cristiano to strengthen its chances at the Club World Cup (June 14-July 13). “The desire of the leaders of one of the four African representatives at the Club World Cup,” the Spanish media outlet specifies, “is to count on the Portuguese for the tournament, given the sporting and social appeal” generated by CR7’s presence.

At Al Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo’s season ended on a bad note. In addition to being eliminated in the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League, the “Tigers” are on the verge of missing out on the next edition. “This would represent a step backwards for Cristiano Ronaldo,” adds the author of the article.

Even on FIFA’s side, Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence at the Club World Cup would mean a significant boost for the Club World Cup, alongside Lionel Messi, who is competing with Inter Miami.

This recruitment, if it materializes, would represent a dream promotion for the Casablanca team.

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