The first iteration of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup had many in the soccer world wondering what interest in the product would be like. So far, it’s safe to say it has been mixed results.
The competition itself drew lukewarm interest in the form of ticket sales, but the television product has at least captured some level of interest in the United States during a crowded summer for the sport. According to a report by Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, the FIFA Club World Cup has averaged 360,000 viewers on TNT Sports through Wednesday’s matches. When excluding weekday afternoon games, that figure rises to 409,000 viewers.
TNT Sports is airing games under a sublicense agreement with sports streaming service DAZN, which has exclusive global rights for the event.
The competition’s biggest star, Lionel Messi, is carrying his weight. Messi’s Inter Miami have appeared in three of the top seven most-watched matches on linear television. Monday’s tilt with Palmeiras was the most-watched of the Club World Cup so far, averaging 676,000 viewers across TNT and truTV. That match was also the largest audience for an Inter Miami game on English-language TV since Messi joined the club in 2023. Keep in mind, the vast majority of Inter Miami games are exclusive to MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, which is not Nielsen-rated. Most of Messi’s linear television exposure has come in competitions like the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Inter Miami’s other two games averaged 371,000 and 349,000 viewers against Al Ahly and FC Porto respectively. The Porto game was played on a weekday afternoon.
Excluding Inter Miami, the most-watched Club World Cup match on TNT Sports was Friday’s game featuring Bayern Munich and Boca Juniors, which pulled in an audience of 468,000 viewers. It was one of two matches to eclipse the 400,000 viewer threshold thus far.
While the Club World Cup is hardly blowing the doors off from a viewership perspective, it’s difficult to evaluate in a historical context. The tournament is also competing directly with the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Fox and MLS regular season games on Apple.
No doubt, FIFA would love to see some increased viewership once the tournament enters its later stages. But for now, it has yet to break through.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.