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 on 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.
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.