FIFA on Friday blamed the empty seats during the World Cup match between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara on fans who watched from the concourses.
There were many visible empty spots at the 45,664-capacity Guadalajara Stadium, with sections in the middle of the stands showing many unoccupied spaces and with other empty seats scattered around the venue. The announced attendance was 44,985 — including FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“Official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment during the match,” FIFA said, adding that it works closely with stadium authorities and ticketing teams to ensure all published figures are based on verified operational data.
“Please note that, during last night’s match in Guadalajara, several ticketed fans could be seen standing in concourses rather than staying in their assigned seats throughout the match,” the governing body of world soccer said.
It doesn’t matter. None of this matters. It’s not a fan event any more. It’s a sponsor event. They don’t make their money from fans, they make it from corporate sponsors and VIP attendees in box seats. This is increasingly the way the world is. Caring exclusively about the top 0.1% because they are the only ones with money and so are the only ones spending money.
I just saw a video essay on the same thing in Vegas. City has barely any tourists, every one bitching about losses, all the casinos are courting whales, etc. It ends with MGM and the other big casino company posting record profits.