There has been no shortage of discussion about Club World Cup attendance, especially after Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was filled with a sea of empty red seats for all to see. Nearly 50,000 empty seats to be exact, during the Chelsea-LAFC game on Monday.
A quick look at Reddit shows the estimated attendance for the first eight games averaging just under 43,000 fans, not exactly a bad number despite the poor press. This is highlighted by more than 80,000 fans attending PSG vs. Atletico Madrid in Los Angeles.
Yet, many people are talking about the lack of attendance, expensive ticket prices and overall apathy about the Club World Cup, but few people have been giving an inside look at what it is like at the actual games.
I’m here to tell you the good, the bad and everything in between after attending the Club World Cup. After spending the day talking with other fans, this year’s tournament faces some real challenges to gain traction in the States, but all is not lost.
The announced attendance for the Chelsea-LAFC match in Atlanta was 22,137 in a stadium with a capacity of 71,000, a number that can extend to 75,000 fans when demand is there for marquee events.
The TLDR version of all this is that I will be going to more Club World Cup games. But there’s a reason why others may not be joining me in the coming weeks.
I Was at the Club World Cup in Atlanta: The Real Reason Nearly 50,000 Seats Were Empty
When you see a sporting event this poorly attended, there is no one factor that led to the less than ideal results. Two of the biggest factors for the game were the time and ticket prices.
FIFA set some of the game times to coincide with primetime in Europe, not taking into account the impact this could have on local fans not being able to attend the match. Chelsea-LAFC was a 3 p.m. local kick contributing to the empty seats you saw on TV.
A quick stop at the Atlanta Blues meetup (Atlanta’s Chelsea supporters group) at a downtown German bar showed a packed crowd, overwhelming a shorthanded staff, but it may have been all of the people going to the game at this pub.
Now, we need to be brutally honest about the other realities, because even if this game were at 7 p.m., my sense is we still would have seen a lot of empty seats.
FIFA is using dynamic ticket prices on Ticketmaster for the Club World Cup, but there was nothing dynamic about the price tag hours before the match. Personally, I kept waiting for prices to drop as I could see entire sections unsold on Ticketmaster.
Typically, Ticketmaster drops prices in this scenario until the tickets reach a point where they start selling. FIFA was charging about $225 for the club seats on each side. These were the majority of the seats in view during the TV broadcast.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium Club Seats at Club World Cup Are Super Confusing for $225
FIFA kept this high price tag with no details online about what the club seats included. Typically, fans attending an Atlanta United or Falcons game are used to the food being included with their ticket.
Instead, fans had access to the same lounges as normal, but were greeted with prices for everything. I am assuming it was the same thing for the Harrah’s Club in the 200 level where attendees usually get unlimited food and alcohol during games and concerts.
I kept waiting for ticket prices to drop but these club seats remained unchanged, even during the match. I was fortunate to find a resale club ticket on Ticketmaster for $150 just an hour before the game started. The ticket prices for the tickets sold by FIFA never dropped.
It’s safe to say FIFA overestimated the demand for this event. I know this not just because of the unsold tickets, but because fans were greeted with signs at the gate revealing their 300 level tickets had been relocated to closer sections.
While the 300 level was not covered as it often is for an Atlanta United match, no one was in these sections and instead were relocated to other sections.
Some fans pointed to the United States’ new immigration policies as making potential attendees fearful of coming to the match. Additionally, there is chatter that the city of Atlanta offered to help FIFA fill the stadium, but the soccer organization refused assistance.
Too Much Soccer? U.S. Fans May Be Hitting the Wall With Club World Cup, Gold Cup, Premier League Friendlies & More
Dating back to the 1990s (some argue this actually started in the 1970s), the United States has been viewed as an untapped football (soccer for us) market by major clubs in the Premier League and abroad. The United States is hosting the Club World Cup and Gold Cup at the same time.
It’s not just the Club World Cup that is struggling with attendance. I attended a USMNT game in Nashville in preparation for the Gold Cup and there were also a ton of empty seats at Geodis Park. Weeks after the Club World Cup, there will be EPL friendlies being played in Atlanta as well.
American soccer fans are being used as a blank check by English power brokers, FIFA and others but very few have an unlimited budget, especially at these prices. Football fans are sending a very clear message that we may actually be seeing too much soccer ahead of the World Cup as Americans are pulling away from the all-you-can eat buffet claiming Texas De Brazil prices for Golden Corral food.
The Club World Cup Is a Beautiful Hot Mess — Here’s Why I’ll Still Go Back
It looks like we are headed for more of the same conversation as Atlanta has five more Club World Cup games. A quick look at the Inter Miami-FC Porto tickets for Thursday show more of the same with Lionel Messi set to take center stage.
It is once again a 3 p.m. start and the ticket prices are even higher today than they were on Monday. Mercedes-Benz will also host Manchester City vs. Al Ain FC on Sunday with another stellar kickoff time of 9 p.m., less than ideal for families with kids.
The real bummer of all this is the actual tournament has been entertaining. On Monday, Chelsea debuted Liam Delap, one of the notable transfer acquisitions in recent weeks. MLS fans are always curious how teams would stack up against the top clubs in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A.
There is no shortage of praise for the Champions League but this tournament only features the best teams in Europe. I love seeing teams I have witnessed in person during my travels to Brazil, France, United States and Italy battle each other in a more broad tournament.
The field of teams in the Club World Cup is also loaded. One of the major questions heading into the tournament was whether teams and players would take things seriously.
I have been impressed with the quality of play, and we have seen engaged crowds at other places around the United States when the game kicks off at a more reasonable time. There is also the reality that it seems very few people in the ATL seem to know about the Club World Cup. Even if FIFA did not have so many planning missteps, it is going to take time for this revamped tourney to gain momentum.
Personally, I’d rather see the Club World Cup games than the ever-growing amount of EPL friendlies that have become a staple throughout the United States in the summer.
I am going to go back for more Club World Cup games, but not at the prices FIFA is charging. I’ll continue to buy tickets at the last minute by scouring Ticketmaster, SeetGeek and StubHub for much cheaper options.
The question is whether anyone else will be doing the same.
is a sports and news contributor based in Atlanta, Georgia. For more than a decade, Jonathan has written for top media outlets like SI, Athlon Sports, Heavy.com and BetUS among others. Jonathan has traveled all over the world, attending major sporting events in England, Brazil, Italy and Spain. He graduated from UCF with a Master of Sport Business Management degree and has worked inside the industry in a variety of capacities in the sports world. Follow him on Twitter @JonDAdams.
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