This is supposed to be the summer of soccer in the U.S. The newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup -- a warmup act for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico -- has kicked off. And the U.S. men's national team is taking part in the Concacaf Gold Cup.
The idea behind the Club World Cup is that U.S. sports fans would shell out top dollar to see some of the best teams in the world, including Manchester City, Botafogo and Real Madrid, dazzle audiences in competitive matches. Thirty-two teams from practically every continent on the planet -- from River Plate in South America to Urawa Red Diamonds in Asia -- would test their mettle against the presumed European heavyweights.
Meanwhile, the three World Cup hosts face off in their final competitive matches before next summer's extravaganza.
Both competitions were expected to serve as a dry run for next summer's main event, giving organizers plenty of data, the better to discern dos and don'ts.
And yet, despite the importance of and excitement behind both tournaments, tune in to practically any game in either competition and it will be impossible to ignore the empty seats at both intimate 25,000-seat MLS grounds and cavernous 80,000-seat NFL stadiums.
If these tournaments were designed to give fans a veritable buffet of club and international competition, the early signs are that there is a point where U.S. spectators push themselves away from the table and say, "I've had enough." And with teams playing more matches than ever before, the players might not have a great appetite for yet another competition after a grueling 2024-25 club season.
While a match between reigning UEFA Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain and LaLiga's Atlético Madrid drew 80,619 fans to Pasadena's Rose Bowl, an evening encounter involving South Korean side Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa drew a paltry 3,412 fans to Orlando's Inter&Co Stadium. Even better-attended games have suffered from poor optics. A match between Chelsea and LAFC drew 22,137 fans who were all but swallowed up in Atlanta's 71,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium. On Thursday, FIFA announced an average attendance of 34,773.
The Gold Cup has had its share of poorly attended games as well. A doubleheader involving Haiti and Saudi Arabia, followed by a match between Costa Rica and Suriname, drew just 7,736 fans to San Diego's Snapdragon Stadium. Games involving the USMNT, which Concacaf usually counts on to bolster attendance, haven't gotten fans excited either. The match between the U.S. and Trinidad and Tobago drew just 12,610 on a picture-perfect afternoon at San Jose's PayPal Park. Thursday's USMNT match in Austin, Texas against Saudi Arabia drew even fewer; just 11,727. Keep in mind that these numbers are "tickets distributed" and don't necessarily reflect the number of actual fans in the venue.
For the U.S., the poor attendance could be explained by the absences of several star players, such as Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Sergiño Dest and Antonee Robinson. Or it could be the four-game losing streak the national team was in the midst of coming into the tournament.
But what about for the rest of football? Is it simply a case of an oversaturated market? Were FIFA's eyes bigger than its stomach? Or could it be that the U.S. market is simply not buying what FIFA and Concacaf are selling?
With additional reporting by Lizzy Becherano, Rob Dawson, Cesar Hernandez, Gab Marcotti and James Olley.
A World Cup, not the World Cup
The Club World Cup might have "World Cup" right there in the name, but make no mistake, this competition lacks the two characteristics that make FIFA's showpiece quadrennial event an "I remember when ..." cultural phenomenon: history and cachet.
When the real World Cup kicks off next summer, it will be the tournament's 23rd edition, and the 24th, hosted by Portugal, Spain and Morocco, will mark 100 years of the World Cup. So iconic is the Jules Rimet trophy to sporting culture that it's been stolen. Twice.
The Club World Cup has been in existence for only 25 years, and up until this summer, it was an annual event pitting each continent's champions against one another; and with European clubs winning 16 of 20 of those editions, it began to feel like a glorified midseason training camp for the Champions League holders. The expansion of the field to 32 clubs changes that calculus, but the overarching sentiment remains: this is not a competition that players grew up dreaming of playing in, nor is it one that shaped viewers' fandom.
When the World Cup comes to North America next summer, even the sports averse among us can find enough enthusiasm to support the country of their birth or the country of their heritage or even just the country with the finest kits. The indifferent segment of the sporting culture will find it harder to connect with Al Ain or Auckland City or the Seattle Sounders.
And when tickets to the Club World Cup are priced like they're tickets to the World Cup, it shouldn't come as a surprise that stadiums are bereft of all but the most die-hard of fans.
FIFA's tradeoffs
From the beginning, the Club World Cup hasn't been a competition universally embraced by the game or those who live it. High-profile coaches and players including Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Robert Lewandowski, have raised concerns over the demands being placed on players by the tournament after a long season. The interest from broadcasters and sponsors was tepid. FIFA eventually got what it wanted: a $1 billion broadcast rights fee from DAZN and a $1 billion prize money package that was so large clubs couldn't say no.
There has been a knock-on effect that has trickled down to attendance. One FIFA source indicated that the broadcast rights and prize money issues took up so much of the organization's time that the actual organizing of the games suffered. It wasn't a case of a lack of resources either. According to another FIFA source, the marketing budget to try to boost ticket sales was $50 million, but there was no clear vision as to what the goal was and not enough time to plan. There was also no real comparison with the past, given FIFA had never had another competition -- such as the Gold Cup -- going on at the same time.
The resulting muddled rollout plan has been evident in the Club World Cup's visibility. Several ESPN writers covering the tournament noted a lack of signage promoting the competition in host cities, and few have managed to find sports bars airing games.
There is also an acknowledgment from the tournament organizers that they are competing against some heavyweight U.S. sports. There was golf's U.S. Open on opening weekend, then hockey's Stanley Cup Final, and also the NBA Finals. In terms of soccer, MLS is on a 10-day pause to mark the start of the Club World Cup but will return to action this week, while the NWSL's regular season only just went on hiatus to observe the Women's Euros. This made planning around the games a challenge, and left FIFA making some uncomfortable tradeoffs.
Because FIFA wanted matches to be broadcast in primetime in Europe and Africa, half of the 48 group-stage games had kickoff times of 3 p.m. local time or earlier, with 17 of those 24 matches happening on weekdays.
"The match was clearly influenced by the temperature," PSG manager Luis Enrique said after his team beat Atlético 4-0 at the Rose Bowl in a 12 p.m. local kickoff. "The timing is great for European fans, but the teams are suffering."
There is also the question of whether to stage matches in smaller, soccer-specific stadiums or larger venues. One industry source with knowledge of FIFA's thinking said it was suggested to the organizing body that matches be played in smaller venues, but FIFA preferred to use larger NFL stadiums in order to allow anyone who wanted to attend a match the opportunity to do so. Yet there is an admission on FIFA's part that more needs to go into reaching out to local markets. For example, more outreach needed to be made to youth soccer teams to see if they would be interested in attending.
James Olley reacts to Chelsea's 2-0 win over LAFC at the Club World Cup.
Then there's the presence of agents from Customs and Border Protection. CBP posted on social media saying it would be "suited and booted" at the tournament opener between Inter Miami and Al Ahly, only for the post to eventually be taken down, but CBP said it would be providing security at the Club World Cup.
The Inter Miami supporters group The Siege canceled its pregame tailgate, stating that the "mixed messaging makes it hard for us to promote a gathering in good conscience; knowing rights could be potentially infringed."
The good and the bad of dynamic pricing
Then there were the ticket prices. FIFA utilized a concept called dynamic pricing that measures demand from fans to help set prices. If demand is high, the price goes up. If not, the price goes down. Count FIFA president Gianni Infantino as a fan.
"I didn't know about [dynamic pricing] but it means that the prices can go up or can go down," he said, "and for us, the important element is to fill stadiums to give opportunities to people to come."
But what Infantino is overlooking is that it leaves fans who paid a premium feeling like they've been duped. There were also instances where FIFA went to extraordinary lengths to sell tickets. FIFA entered into a partnership with Miami-Dade College that provided faculty and students a promotion for the Miami-Al Ahly game. With the purchase of one $20 ticket, individuals with the MDC code could receive up to four complimentary tickets. The Seattle Sounders tried to placate fans who paid full freight during a pre-sale period by giving them two free tickets to their match against Botafogo, but not every fan was so fortunate.
The use of dynamic pricing has led some spectators to adapt to the approach. One FIFA source said that part of the reason why crowds have looked sparse at kickoff is that fans are waiting until the last minute to buy tickets, when prices would go down. As an example, the price of the aforementioned Chelsea-LAFC match dropped from $83 to $51 for general admission.
"We had a good crowd in a big stadium. The atmosphere was good, too," said one club official from a participating team. "It is different from when we've been on tours, and I think that has to do with how they distributed the tickets. We as a club haven't been that involved and maybe that's part of it.
"People see big crowds at U.S. sporting events -- the NFL, the NBA, whatever -- but they often don't realize a lot of work goes into it. This is a new competition and there's a learning curve for everything."
Lessons from Concacaf and the Gold Cup?
While crowds have often been underwhelming in the first nine days of play, FIFA expects crowds to increase as the tournament heads into the knockout stages. That is similar to what the Gold Cup has experienced over the years. Matches featuring the tournament's lightweights tend to draw poorly, which is why the Gold Cup makes heavy use of doubleheaders. As the tournament progresses, the crowd sizes improve. Concacaf has already distributed nearly 50,000 tickets to the final. FIFA and Concacaf engaged in some collaboration in terms of venues, hence the segmentation that saw most Club World Cup games held on the east coast while the Gold Cup matches took place mostly in the central and pacific time zones.
Concacaf also uses dynamic pricing, although its effectiveness is an open question. An hour before kickoff for the U.S.-Saudi Arabia match, the lowest price for a ticket was $87. In the largely unused second deck at Q2 Stadium, tickets were still being listed at $114. In terms of pricing, Concacaf uses several criteria, including demand, competition, participating federations and day of the week, among others.
Across the first round of matches, the Gold Cup is averaging more than 20,000 fans, including 54,000 for the opening game between Mexico and the Dominican Republic. When asked if Concacaf was concerned about the attendance for the U.S. matches, a Concacaf spokesperson said via email, "We thank all fans who have come out to support their national teams in the 2025 Gold Cup opening games."
Herc Gomez discusses the reasons why fans might be discouraged to support the USMNT at the Gold Cup.
That the U.S. has actually been a drag on the tournament average isn't unheard of. In 2021, under similar circumstances in which the USMNT's top players were missing, the first two Gold Cup matches involving the U.S. drew 12,664 and 7,511 fans.
That the USMNT recently endured a four-game home losing streak hasn't helped, but Trevin Wurm, the chapter management lead for the USMNT supporters' group, the American Outlaws, thinks the reason for the low attendances has more to do with economics rather than the team's form. He pointed to a "huge saturation of soccer" that is dividing fans' attention.
"We've heard from members how expensive prices have gotten at an event like the Gold Cup," Wurm said. "And I think that definitely is keeping some people away. We are working with U.S. Soccer on some things to try and lower prices, and we're always working towards advocating for that. But yeah, the cost is obviously a barrier. I mean, the cost of everything has gone up so much recently that you have less wiggle room for an expense like that."
Whitney Zaleski, who helps with operations for the American Outlaws, added, "There's so much soccer going on, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just kind of is what it is at this point. Leading up into the World Cup, we're just going to keep getting busier."
This summer is perfectly illustrating the point at which American fans can't consume all of that soccer and start picking and choosing where to invest their time and money. And as the sun sets on this summer of soccer, and we transition into the year of the World Cup, the historic 48-team tournament won't have any of the empty calories in the early stages of this summer's competitions.