-
Jeff Carlisle, NFL reporter
The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, is among the venues considered for the 2025 Club World Cup, with FIFA aiming to announce the full list of venues in the coming weeks, sources told ESPN.
Other sites under consideration include Seattle’s Lumen Stadium, Orlando’s Inter & Co. Stadium, Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, sources said, though none have been confirmed.
The Guardian was the first to report on the venues for the Club World Cup, noting that MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, and an undisclosed venue in the Philadelphia area are also set to be named.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has long advocated for a Club World Cup in a bid to attract more revenue to the game. FIFA had planned to launch the expanded tournament, initially with 24 teams, in 2021 in China, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced its cancellation.
FIFA confirmed in June 2023 that it would launch a 32-team Club World Cup in the United States in 2025, with the tournament set to take place over four weeks from June 15 to July 13.
But FIFA has faced opposition from other stakeholders in the sport. Players, coaches and unions — including FIFPro and the Professional Footballers’ Association in England — have voiced concerns about the increased workload. Sources have told ESPN that the Premier League is concerned about forcing the Club World Cup into the summer transfer window, a period that is typically occupied by international football.
The United States is also busy, with the CONCACAF Gold Cup scheduled to take place in a similar timeframe, from June 14 to July 6.
To that end, sources said the Club World Cup was originally scheduled to be held on the East Coast of the United States, while the Gold Cup would mostly be played on the West Coast. But the Seattle Sounders’ involvement has complicated matters further, and Lumen Field could be included as one of the venues for the Club World Cup.
Although the logo and sound signature for the competition were announced on September 4, many details still need to be ironed out.
FIFA announced in mid-July that it had opened bidding for broadcast rights after talks with Apple reportedly stalled over the tech giant’s $1 billion offer, which was well below FIFA’s $4 billion asking price. The Athletic reported that FIFA held a call with potential broadcasters earlier this week to try to move the process forward, but little progress was made.
This report was informed by ESPN’s Lizzie Picchirano and Mark Ogden.
