Million CWC Tickets Gone, FIFA Aims For More

FIFA has announced a total attendance of 556,369 for the first 16 matches of the Club World Cup at an average gate of 34,773.

FIFA also said that fans from more than 130 countries have bought nearly 1.5 million tickets.

The figures bear some scrutiny as broadcast pictures have stadiums that have been half full and that has generated comment worldwide. The attendance figures also stress test the popularity of a competition that FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino have said is already a fantastic success in its first edition of being expanded to 32 teams.

If FIFA is reporting its figures accurately – and for this article the numbers are being taken as reported by FIFA – then while FIFA sold 556,369 tickets there were 426,000 tickets unsold.

Total tickets available for the first 16 matches were 982,000.

Stadiums on average for the first 16 games were about 56% full. Eight of the 16 matches had significantly less than 50% of the stadium capacity sold.

Of the 556,369 tickets sold for the first 16 matches, three matches account for just under 204,000 of the tickets sold (about 37%), Two of those matches (80,619 – Paris Saint-Germain v. Atlético de Madrid, Rose Bowl Stadium, and 60,927 – Al Ahly FC v. Inter Miami CF, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami), saw ticket prices massively discounted at the last minute.

As the group stages have progressed the ticket sales would have likely dropped off as some teams will have qualified for the next round rendering some matches of less significance.

This is not unusual as fans this is a very different tournament and club dynamic to the national team World Cup where fans will follow their country’s whatever their results, and many other fans will fill stadiums to be part of the World Cup experience. If FIFA reports another set of attendance numbers they will make an interesting comparison to the set they have reported, and will provide interesting data and learnings for future tournaments.

One thing is clear, generally club fans have not flocked to the US to follow their teams this summer, hence the ticket sales are highly reliant on local fan engagement.

FIFA said it has sold 1.5 million and announced their millionth fan through the gate for the 29th match – Juventus vs Wydad.

In total there were about 3.5 million tickets available of which 1.5 million had been sold by the end of the first round of 16 group games.

It is not an insignificant number, but whether that number justifies the hype of the tournament which is being played in some of the world biggest and most spectacular stadia is a matter of personal interpretation.

Insideworldfootball.com