Chelsea’s Club World Cup opening match against MLS team LAFC has now had its viewing figures released, offering a slightly brighter picture than the on-site attendance statistics.
The Blues kicked off their campaign in the U.S. with a relatively straightforward 2-0 victory over LAFC, which included appearances from former Premier League stars Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris.
Pedro Neto scored a stunning opener in the first half, before Enzo Fernandez made sure of the points and put away any hopes of a fight back late on.
Despite this, every game being freely shown on DAZN, along with Channel 5’s rights to select matches, meant Monday night’s win for the Blues was more warmly received back home.
Figures published now show that there was an average audience of 1.4million for the game on 5, with 283,000 also tuning in for Boca Juniors draw with Benfica, which kicked off three hours later at 11pm.
Chelsea beat LAFC in their opening game of the Club World Cup in front of 22,127 supporters
The expanded competition kicked off last weekend but has seen low turnouts at some games
However an average audience of 1.4million tuned into the Blues’ victory according to Channel 5
As such, president of Paramount International Advertising Sales Lee Sears has described the reception of the Blues match as ‘a standout moment’.
‘Last night’s FIFA Club World Cup match was a standout moment for 5, driving big numbers including new and hard to reach younger audiences to the channel,’ Sears stated.
‘It’s a clear example of how premium live sport can outperform our channel average and deliver real value to both viewers and advertisers.’
With Atlanta United’s home ground able to host over 70,000 fans, it was even more apparent from the broadcast pictures how few had bought tickets for the game.
LAFC had been backed by strong and vocal support for the game, though the cross-country trip to Georgia is naturally somewhat more forgiving than the trip across the Atlantic for Chelsea fans.
Reports suggest only 22,127 fans were actually at the game, which is being staged after the end of the European season.
Ticket prices were even slashed ahead of kick-off in a bid to entice football fans into attending, but seemingly to no avail.
While the game in Atlanta saw a surprising number of empty seats, Boca Juniors’ clash with Benfica looked to almost be a home game for the Argentinian side, with the stands practically bouncing with supporters in encouraging scenes for FIFA.
However fans were packed almost to the rafters into Inter Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium to watch Boca Juniors hold Benfica to a 2-2 draw
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has launched an extraordinary rant against the Club World Cup
In the wake of Monday evening’s fixtures, though, LaLiga president Javier Tebas launched a scathing attack on the competition, claiming he now aims to ‘eliminate’ future Club World Cups.
Speaking at a LaLiga event, Tebas said: ‘My goal is to ensure there are no more Club World Cups, that’s very clear.’
Asked if improvements could be made for future editions, he said there were ‘no dates’ in the footballing calendar left and the competition should be ‘eliminated’.
‘There are no dates,’ the 62-year-old said. ‘There’s no need for yet another competition that moves money to a sector of clubs and players and comes from somewhere.
‘There’s no more money here; we have to maintain the ecosystem and eliminate it.
‘Keep it as it was before, which was a weekend. There’s no way, neither in terms of dates, nor economics, nor maintaining the sustainability of football.’
The LaLiga president admitted he had watched 25 minutes of Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Los Angeles but criticised the fixture for looking like ‘a preseason friendly’, adding ‘I didn’t see any intensity’.
