FIFA's Club World Cup prices get slashed for quarter-finals competition
According to Ticketmaster, FIFA's official ticket-selling portal for the competition, tickets for the quarter-final between Brazilian team Fluminense and Saudi side Al-Hilal were available on Wednesday for $11.15 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, while tickets for Chelsea's clash against Palmeiras could be bought for $22.30. This is cheaper than had been showing for any group stage game before the start of the competition.
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The heavyweight clash between Bayern Munich and European champions Paris Saint-Germain came in higher at $44.60 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta but still a substantial reduction of FIFA's original pricing for the tournament.
FIFA have applied a dynamic pricing model for Club World Cup tickets, which has sometimes worked in the interests of the consumer during this tournament as prices have tumbled down from FIFA's original expectations following their initial release in December, although some fans may have bought tickets at higher prices only for them now to be available at a much lower rate.
Tickets in the lower bowl of the stadiums for the quarter-final were priced at nearly $500 in January, according to a now deleted post on Bayern Munich's website, but lower bowl tickets were available at $22 in the Chelsea-Palmeiras game and $27.90 in the Fluminense-Al Hilal match-up as of Thursday. The demand appears higher at the Bayern game against PSG, where the lower bowl is commanding over $140 in the resale market but in the upper rings standard admission tickets can now be bought for $44, which is substantially below the original pricing.
The Spanish giants Real Madrid have been the most popular team in the tournament, commanding over 60,000 in attendances at all four of their games, and their game against German team Borussia Dortmund at MetLife Stadium on Saturday is proving more resilient in demand and pricing. The cheapest standard admission seats remain $128 in the upper ring, while the lower bowl prices are showing at over $300 via verified resale.
FIFA have publicly lauded the expanded Club World Cup and claim that over two million supporters have attended matches over the 56 games of the competition so far. This represents an average of over 35,000 fans per game but many games have seen tens of thousands of empty seats as FIFA plumped for NFL venues for many of the matches. The round of 16 phase attracted an average of 42,750 fans, as attendances dramatically varied. Less than 26,000 attended games between Chelsea v Benfica and Inter v Monterrey but over 60,000 turned out for games such as Real Madrid v Juventus, PSG v Inter Miami and Bayern Munich v Flamengo. FIFA have been donating some for veterans and community soccer groups within cities over the past fortnight.
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FIFA's hope had been that demand for the tournament would increase as it goes on but the lower pricing for the quarter-finals may be owed partly to the small runway between the rounds in which to market to fans, while the cost for loyal club fans to traverse U.S. cities is also burdensome.
FIFA have been approached for comment.
FIFA had concerns before the tournament that attendances may fall below the organization's expectations. The Athletic has previously reported how the organization has committed substantially more than $50m in marketing the competition, including a vast spend on social media promotion and influencers. Their attempts to fill Hard Rock Stadium for the Club World Cup opening match between Inter Miami and Egyptian team Al-Ahly involved offering students at an affiliated local college (with a network of 100,000 students) a single ticket for $20 — but with the promise of up to four complimentary tickets.
The cheapest entry for Inter Miami's game against Al-Ahly dropped to $55 the week before the tournament — half of what they were available for in May. Tickets were $230 for the cheapest seat in January and $349 after the draw in December.
Despite this, FIFA are holding the cheapest standard admission prices at $978 for the second of the semi-finals of the Club World Cup on Wednesday. Both semi-finals will take place at MetLife Stadium but the second game will see the winner of Real Madrid's game against Dortmund take on the winner of PSG's match against Bayern. Verified resale tickets are available for $426. Standard admission for the first semi-final, between the winners of Chelsea against Palmeiras and Al-Hilal against Fluminense, has standard admission pricing of $473.90.
The cheapest standard admission ticket remaining for the final on July 13 remains $892. All these tickets remain subject to the dynamic market and may fluctuate.
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The higher pricing of the games involving Europe's largest teams underlines that these teams still appear to hold the greatest demand in the U.S. market, with Real Madrid a particular draw.
This tournament has represented an attempt by FIFA to diversify interest in the global game. FIFA President Gianni Infantino claimed 'the new era of club football has truly started' after Al-Hilal knocked out English side Manchester City in the round of 16 but within the marketplace, it appears it will still take time to catch up.
(The scene in Orlando in the match between Al-Hilal and Manchester City. Jose Breton / Pics Action / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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