The viewing figures for Chelsea's Club World Cup-Opener against MLS Side Lafc have now been released, and it provides a little more encouraging than the up-ground presence numbers.
The blues got their campaign in the United States with a fairly routine 2-0 win over Lafc -with former Premier League -Stam guests Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris.
Pedro Neto scored a stunning opener in the first half, before Enzo Fernandez took care of the points and brought the hope late.
Yet one of the biggest points of talks in the game was the fact that the 71,000-Saturday Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, less than half full, in a bitter blow to FIFA.
With each game shown for free on Dazn and Channel 5 the rights to select luminaires, the victory of Monday evening for the blues was at least better at home.
The figures that have now been published show that there was an average audience of 1.4 million for the game at 5, with 283,000 who also tuned for Boca Juniors Draw with Benfica, who started three hours later at 11 p.m.
As such, President of Paramount International Advertising Sales Lee Sears has described the reception of the Blues match as 'a striking moment'.
“The FIFA Club World Cup match last night was a striking moment for 5, including a large numbers, including new and difficult to reach young people to the canal,” Sears said.
“It is a clear example of how Premium Live Sport can surpass our channel average and deliver real value to both viewers and advertisers.”
With the home country of Atlanta United to host more than 70,000 fans, it was even clearer of the temporary employment photos how few had bought tickets for the game.
Lafc was supported by strong and vocal support for the game, although the cross-country trip to Georgia is of course something forgiving than the journey over the Atlantic for Chelsea fans.
Reports suggest that only 22,127 fans were actually at the game, which will be performed after the end of the European season.
Ticket prizes were even beaten before the start in an attempt to seduce football fans to attend, but apparently not benefit.
While the game in Atlanta saw a surprising number of empty seats, the Boca Juniors collision with Benfica almost seemed to be a home game for the Argentinian side, with the stands that practically bounce with supporters in encouraging scenes for FIFA.
In the aftermath of the matches of Monday evening, however, Laliga President Javier Tebas launched a destructive attack on the competition and claims that he now wants to 'eliminate' the future club world cups.
During a Liga event, Tebas said: “My goal is to ensure that there are no more club world cups, that is very clear.”
Asked if improvements could be made for future editions, he said that there were 'no dates' in the football calendar and the competition should be 'eliminated'.
“There are no dates,” said the 62-year-old. 'There is no need for another competition that moves money to a sector of clubs and players and comes from somewhere.
'There is no more money here; We must retain and eliminate the ecosystem.
'Keep it as before, what a weekend was. There is no way or in terms of dates, nor economy, nor to preserve the sustainability of football. '
The President of Laliga admitted that he had viewed 25 minutes of the 2-0 victory of Chelsea in Los Angeles, but criticized the game before looking like 'a preseason-friendly', and added that I did not see any intensity '.