FIFA 'more poorly governed today than 10 years ago'

theguardian.com

9 pointsPaulHoule3 comments

Semi-related. For the Club World Cup match tomorrow in Miami, they’ve started offering local university students a deal: buy one ticket for $20, get four free tickets for your mates. There’s just no demand.

I think it’s important to take into account these low demand is likely due to the low popularity of soccer in the US. US national games don’t even draw a full stadium.

Soccer has high popularity in the US.

USMNT match scheduling/location is a wreck and has been for a good 5+ years.

International matches played in the US typically draw large crowds because they are held in locations with many fans. Because the organizers know what they are doing.

FIFA created the Club World Cup as a money grab, and assumed that America=money without doing any homework. Initial ticket prices were very high, killing a lot of demand.

The Messi in Miami bump in sales/prices was real, but quickly tapered off as fans got consistently burned by overpaying in advance. FIFA still thinks it exists like in the first few months.

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