How Chelsea Club World Cup success can supercharge plans to overtake rivals

3 hours ago 25

Throughout the revamped razzmatazz that was the new incarnation of the FIFA Club World Cup there had been a constant stream of criticism, largely from the British media, that it was a competition that had garnered no interest.

The focus was placed on the poor attendances seen in some games where some stadiums were less than a quarter full, and while that was the truth, the reality was that Urawa Red Diamonds and Mamelodi Sundowns facing off in the searing Orlando heat at midday was never going to draw in the thronging masses.

FIFA will have known that such spectacles would be focused on, but what they needed to happen was the big games to be a draw, and for the final to draw interest and intrigue, and an abundance of quality. It managed to tick all those boxes.

Cole Palmer’s magnificence helped Chelsea on their way to a 3-0 success over UEFA Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in front of 81,118 fans at the Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It was the final FIFA had hoped for, with a big gun of the English Premier League taking on the champions of Europe, and a club that has found brand recognition in North America in PSG.

Attendance for the group stages stood at 57%, an average of just under 35,000, but taking into account the lesser lights and lack of pull that some clubs had, that will be seen as a success. The quarter finals and semi-finals were at 90% capacity, and almost 2.5m fans attended live games during the competition. It has been a success for FIFA because the attention was there when it mattered, and it showed an appetite for the game a year out from the World Cup on North American soil.

The awkwardness of US President Donald Trump not knowing when to leave the stage as Reece James prepared to hold aloft the trophy, with Palmer lurking, bemused, just over his shoulder, made headlines, but it made them around the world and, crucially, in the US.

Chelsea have the honour of being known as Club World Champions for the next four years. They will have the gold badge emblazoned on their shirts to commemorate the fact, but the success in the competition, in its new guise, on US soil 12 months out from the World Cup heading across the Atlantic, cannot be underestimated.

The Premier League remains the most desired rights in football for broadcasters in the US. It is the world’s biggest domestic league, and it is the one that has the most cut-through with American audiences, and that is impactful heading towards the World Cup. For Chelsea to hold aloft the trophy of Club World Cup champions on US soil, at such a key time, is something that can be leveraged.

It goes beyond the £100m or so that the club will have earned from the competition, which for Chelsea solves their PSR headaches and pretty much allows them to get back to a position to be able to continually strengthen their squad, even after the £1.2bn-plus investment made in doing so since 2022. The Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital ownership has faced plenty of criticism of its approach to trying to take the club to new levels, especially after poor performances in the Premier League and a lack of Champions League football. But with the latter in the bag for next season, and now with the accolade of world champions, the plan is being executed, and Chelsea have enormous potential for further growth and to take a slice of a global audience, especially in America, that is waking up to the Premier League and the game for the first time.

From merchandising to storytelling, Chelsea now have leverage that their rivals do not have, and have owners who understand the American audience and have investments in entities that can aid the growth effort, such as the media.

The club’s location in London, its Premier League history over the last 25 years, allied with the ability to keep spending, gives them a compelling narrative, and the window of opportunity has opened up for them. Success domestically and in Europe will be key to making sure that they make the most of that opportunity.

Speaking to the Times last month, Liverpool chairman Tom Werner spoke on the power of the Premier League and what it means in the US.

“The storylines in live sport, and in particular in the Premier League, are so compelling,” he said. “It’s why live sport is such a big part of our culture. It’s unique in what it offers.

“The reason that the Premier League is so successful is because it’s a display of the very best players in the world, with storylines that are skilfully delivered by networks like NBC. They’ve done a great job with their coverage here.

“The passion fans have towards soccer in the United States is really hard to articulate. But it’s quite powerful and it’s now on this trajectory that is only positive, especially with the World Cup coming in 2026. And what’s happening this summer with the Club World Cup — maybe not everyone is watching at the moment, but it’s still seeding interest.

“That said, I think that the Premier League is far and away the most compelling product in football. And Comcast [owners of NBC] says their interest is the Premier League, rather than the sport more broadly.

“Everybody comes to them and says, ‘Hey, listen, are you interested in televising the Club World Cup, or the World Cup?’ And they say, ‘No, we’re interested in the Premier League.’”

If Chelsea are able to now continue that success domestically then they have an enormous chance to claw back ground on the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal, and regular revenues of £700m-plus will be the target in the next five years.

Read Entire Article