FIFA president Gianni Infantino promised global broadcasters in a video call on Friday that venues in the United States for the FIFA Club World Cup next June and July will be announced by the end of September, increasing the pressure on his organisation to finalise negotiations with stadiums and cities across the country within 10 days.
The Athletic revealed on Thursday that Infantino had called the emergency briefing with broadcasters as he sought to persuade them of the merits of the tournament, with football’s world governing body FIFA seeking billions in TV revenue to fund participation and prize money for competing clubs. Broadcasters have, however, so far been reluctant to get anywhere near FIFA’s demands for the tournament.
A global streaming deal with Apple was originally reported by The New York Times to be close but that did not materialise. FIFA then launched a media rights tender in July for both the 2025 and 2029 editions of the tournament in the hope it would raise interest and competition.
The 32-team tournament will take place in the U.S. next summer but venues, training bases, sponsors and broadcasters are yet to be announced. Clubs are also increasingly impatient to learn how much they can expect to receive from the competition, with Europe’s largest sides budgeting for UEFA Champions League-style returns from competing in FIFA’s revamped tournament. It is not known at this stage where the 2029 competition will take place.
The majority of the venues next year will be on the east coast of the U.S., with the west coast largely blocked off for the CONCACAF Gold Cup which is happening also between June and July next summer.
The Athletic has previously reported that MLS side Seattle Sounders are expected to play at least one Club World Cup game at Lumen Field, a 68,000-seater stadium that is home to NFL team Seattle Seahawks, the Sounders and Seattle Reign of the NWSL, but this is expected to be the only east coast venue.
We have also previously reported that a mix of NFL and MLS venues across New York, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Nashville and Cincinnati have been under consideration.
Certainty over the venues will provide some comfort to broadcasters amid a spate of concerns that have plagued the organisation of the tournament, but it remains to be seen whether the TV networks will show the same enthusiasm for the competition as Infantino.
He was joined on the call by Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is also the chair of the European Clubs’ Association, while executives from Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Porto, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Red Bull Salzburg also showed support.
FIFA declined to comment but confirmed it expects to announce venues within weeks and that further announcements are hoped for ahead of the draw, which will take place in December.
(Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
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