Standard admission pricing for FIFA’s Club World Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Fluminense on Tuesday afternoon at MetLife Stadium was reduced to just $13.40 today (Saturday) — having been priced at $473.90 less than 72 hours earlier.
It represents FIFA’s latest attempts to increase attendances at their venues as its president, Gianni Infantino, seeks to demonstrate proof of concept of the inaugural expanded Club World Cup to clubs, broadcasters and sponsors with a view to future editions.
Saudi Arabia and Soccer
Real's Use of Valverde
Musiala's Horrific Injury
Real's Match Winners
PSG's Mentality
Tickets for Club World Cup semi-final reduced from $473 to $13 in just 72 hours
Tickets for Club World Cup semi-final reduced from $473 to $13 in just 72 hours
Adam Crafton
Adam Crafton
227
July 5, 2025
Standard admission pricing for FIFA’s Club World Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Fluminense on Tuesday afternoon at MetLife Stadium was reduced to just $13.40 today (Saturday) — having been priced at $473.90 less than 72 hours earlier.
It represents FIFA’s latest attempts to increase attendances at their venues as its president, Gianni Infantino, seeks to demonstrate proof of concept of the inaugural expanded Club World Cup to clubs, broadcasters and sponsors with a view to future editions.
ADVERTISEMENT
It also means that it could be cheaper to buy a ticket to that semi-final than buy a cheesesteak ($15) or beer ($14) inside MetLife. Tickets in the ordinarily more expensive lower ring are also down to $44.60 for the Chelsea-Fluminense game.
The Athletic has also seen evidence that FIFA’s volunteers for the tournaments received emails last week offering them four complimentary tickets to all quarter-final matches, with the exception of Real Madrid’s fixture against Borussia Dortmund at MetLife.
While the volunteers were likely grateful for the opportunity, this does not appear to have been pre-planned before the tournament by FIFA with volunteers, who remain anonymous to protect their positions, indicating that they were told in training sessions beforehand that free tickets would not be made available. Volunteers who took the tickets for the quarter-finals were asked not to wear their uniforms when attending the games, which may have been to avoid confusing matchgoing spectators. FIFA did not directly respond when asked if this request was also to give the volunteers the appearance of being a paying member of the public.
FIFA has utilized a dynamic pricing model during the Club World Cup while using Ticketmaster as its official selling portal for the competition. The pricing has often seen dramatic swings, often downwards, during the tournament. The first semi-final at MetLife, for example, showed the cheapest standard admission ticket prices to be $473.90 on Wednesday, as reported by The Athletic. By Friday lunchtime, prices were down to $44.60, while at 11.30am on Saturday morning, they were reduced again to $27.90. By 1.22pm, the cheapest tickets were down to $13.40.
It means that a football fan may have been able to buy a ticket on Saturday for 2.8 per cent of the price FIFA were asking for standard admission only three days earlier. Asked whether those fans who supported their team and the tournament earlier on by buying at higher prices, up to a 35 times multiple, may receive any refund or discount, FIFA did not specifically reply. It also did not reply when asked if they consider this to be a fair way to treat paying football fans.
Continue on
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6475113/2025/07/05/club-world-cup-tickets-semifinals/
