World Football Challenge average attendance down in 2011

The 2011 World Football Challenge average attendance of 41,749 was down from 56,136 in the last event in 2009. The format of the two events was substantially different with the 2011 event expanded in scope but reduced in structure, which might account for the lower average attendance.

The top two matches from both years drew the same approximate numbers, however. The largest 2011 event was Barcelona-Manchester United, which wrapped up the preseason tour on July 30 and drew 81,807 at FedEx Field, while the 2009 Chelsea-Inter Milan match drew a high of 81,224 fans at the Rose Bowl.

Two different types of events

The inaugural 2009 World Football Challenge was a six-city, round robin tournament comprised of four teams - Inter, AC Milan, Chelsea and Club America - and utlimately won by Chelsea. While the quality of the individual 2009 preseason games differed, there was a champion and the games mattered more than individual friendlies, making the matches more competitive.

"This tournament is the kind of tournament I like preseason," then-Inter coach Jose Mourinho said of World Football Challenge 2009. "Some managers prefer easy matches, prefer to win easily, they prefer to start the season with results with a big impact. I don’t like that. I like difficulties, I think difficulties are the best thing for the evolution of a team."

By contrast, 2011 World Football Challenge featured six European clubs, two Mexican clubs and five MLS clubs in a series of friendlies, which did not include all of the participating team's games. For example, Manchester United played New England Revolution, Chicago Fire and Barcelona in World Football Challenge, plus a separate disasterous friendly with Seattle Sounders that dispatched the home team 7-0 and Man U's second consecutive MLS All-Star game, which also finished with a 4-0 thrashing.

There was no tournament to follow and no particular rivalry except for the final Barcelona-Manchester United event, which drew the greatest crowd. That match pitted the two 2011 Champions League finalists against each other, with Man U looking to revenge their 3-1 loss to Champion Barcelona, which they accomplished with a 2-1 victory.

Even without two-time Balon d'Or winner Lionel Messi, Barcelona led all clubs in World Football Challenge average attendance with 70,898 fans per match.

Another reason 2011 World Football Challenge might not have done as well as it could have is because of the way it was introduced to the public. Over the spring, teams were individually added to the event, so the initial splash was lost and there was confusion as to whether the event would become an actual tournament as in 2009 or just a series of unrelated friendlies. It was a difficult product to market as a single entity.

There was no World Football Challenge in 2010 because of FIFA World Cup.

The 2009 World Football Challenge crowds were among the top 25 of all United States soccer games in 2009, 21 of which were international matches. [see below]

2011 WORLD FOOTBALL CHALLENGE
Date     Game                                   Venue         Attendance
7/13 Manchester United-Revolution Gillette Stadium 51,523
7/16 Manchester City-Club America        AT&T Park 11,250
7/16 Real Madrid-Galaxy   L.A. Memorial Coliseum 56,211
7/18 Manchester City-Whitecaps      Empire Field    24,074
7/20 Real Madrid-Chivas          Qualcomm Stadium    38,211
7/23 Manchester United-Fire               Soldier Field    61,308
7/23 Sporting Portugal-Juventus             BMO Field    10,028
7/23 Real Madrid-Union       Lincoln Financial Field   57,305
7/24 Manchester City-Galaxy   Home Depot Center 24,897
7/26 Club America-Juventus                  Citi Field    20,859
7/28 Juventus-Chivas             Carter Finley Stadium   16,124
7/30 FC Barcelona-Manchester United   FedExField   81,807
8/3 FC Barcelona-Chivas              Sun Life Stadium    70,080
8/6 FC Barcelona-Club America    Cowboys Stadium 60,807

2009 WORLD FOOTBALL CHALLENGE
Date     Game                         Venue                     Attendance
7/19 Club America-Inter Milan   Stanford Stadium    31,026
7/21 Chelsea-Inter Milan                        Rose Bowl    81,224
7/22 Club America-AC Milan            Georgia Dome    53,600
7/24 Chelsea-AC Milan             M&T Bank Stadium    71,203
7/26 Inter Milan-AC Milan               Gillette Stadium    42,531
7/26 Chelsea-Club America        Cowboys Stadium    57,229

2009 top attendance

93,137 LA Galaxy-Barcelona (Aug 1) Pasadena, Calif.
82,252 Mexico-Haiti (July 19) Arlington, Texas
81,224 Chelsea-Inter Milan (July 21) Pasadena, Calif.
79,156 USA-Mexico (July 26) East Rutherford, N.J.
72,368 D.C. United-Real Madrid (Aug. 9) Landover, Md.
71,203 AC Milan-Chelsea (July 24) Baltimore
66,848 Seattle Sounders-Barcelona (Aug. 5) Seattle
65,289 Seattle Sounders-Chelsea (July 18 ) Seattle
61,572 Barcelona-Guadalajara (Aug 8 ) San Francisco
57,229 Chelsea-Club America (July 26) Arlington, Texas
55,173 Mexico-Costa Rica (July 23) Chicago
51,115 Mexico-Venezuela (July 24) Atlanta
50,306 AC Milan-Club America (July 22) Atlanta
47,713 Mexico-Panama (July 9) Houston
42,531 AC Milan-Inter Milan (July 26) Foxboro, Mass.
32,526 Seattle Sounders-Colorado Rapids (June 28 ) Seattle
32,500 Mexico-Nicaragua (July 5) Oakland, Calif.
32,405 Seattle Sounders-D.C. United (July 25) Seattle
32,204 Seattle Sounders-Houston Dynamo (July 11) Seattle
31,026 Inter Milan-Club America (July 19) Stanford, Calif.
31,087 USA-Panama (July 18 ) Philadelphia
30,624 Mexico-Guatemala (June 29) San Diego
27,000 El Salvador-Costa Rica (July 3) Carson, Calif.
27,000 Los Angeles Galaxy-AC Milan (July 19) Carson, Calif.
26,623 New England Revolution-LA Galaxy (Aug 8 ) Foxboro