Club World Cup Group Stage Struggles with Low Attendance: Over 1 Million Seats Go Unfilled

The Club World Cup group stage has concluded, revealing a concerning number: a million empty seats across the 48 matches played. This comes just a year before the United States is set to host the prestigious 2026 World Cup.

Of the teams progressing to the round of 16, a significant nine hail from Europe. Brazil boasts four representatives, while Major League Soccer, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia each have one team advancing.

An estimated 56.7% of the total available capacity was occupied during the group stage matches. Notably, games in Orlando, Florida, drew crowds of only 3,412 and 6,730, while Cincinnati saw attendances of 5,282 and 8,239. Despite repeated requests from The Associated Press, FIFA has not released specific capacity figures for each venue.

The total announced attendance reached 1.67 million out of a possible 2.95 million, resulting in an average attendance of 34,746 per match.

MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the designated venue for next year's World Cup final, saw only 44.9% of its seats filled across five matches. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, which hosted the 1994 World Cup final, fared slightly better at 50%.

Other 2026 World Cup host cities presented varying attendance figures. Miami Gardens, Florida, achieved 81.8% capacity, followed by Philadelphia at 61.6%, Seattle at 52%, and Atlanta at 44.3%.

In response to the attendance figures, FIFA released a statement emphasizing the tournament's global appeal: "The appetite of the tournament speaks for itself: fans from 168 countries have already purchased tickets ... a clear sign of global anticipation and reach."

Television viewership for the 12 games broadcast with English commentary on TNT, TBS, and truTV averaged 360,000 viewers through Monday. Seven matches broadcast during nights and weekends garnered an average of 409,000 viewers.