Report: FIFA slashes prices for Inter Miami's CWC opener

Hoping to fill a lot of empty seats, FIFA is reportedly slashing ticket prices for the June 14 Club World Cup opener hosted by Inter Miami.

The Athletic reported Wednesday that "tens of thousands" of seats at the 65,326-capacity Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., remain unsold for the 8 p.m. ET match between soccer superstar Lionel Messi's MLS club and Egypt's Al-Ahly.

FIFA rejected a suggestion that fewer than 20,000 tickets had been sold, insisting the number is "much higher" but declining to provide a specific total.

"We are introducing many new, successful clubs from all over the world to the world through this tournament being staged in the 11 cities across the United States," FIFA said in a statement. "Overall, we anticipate great attendances throughout the competition for this first-ever edition -- a tournament that we believe will grow edition-on-edition."

As of Tuesday night, tickets for that game had dropped to $55 on Ticketmaster -- half of what they were going for last month. The cheapest seat available after the tournament draw in December was $349 but had dropped to $230 by December, per The Athletic.

The 32-team FIFA Club World Cup runs through July 13 and includes MLS clubs Inter Miami, Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles FC plus global powerhouses like Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Inter Milan.

--Field Level Media