Post-mortem: Heat, seats and surprises

The expanded Club World Cup in the United States, which was marred by empty seats, slashed ticket prices, searing heat, weather-delayed matches and a criticized field surface, ended in a surprise victory for Chelsea, the fourth-placed team in England's Premier League.

Among the lasting lessons will be FIFA's decision to dramatically drop ticket costs as some kickoff times approached, which could impact decisions by fans thinking of attending next year's World Cup. FIFA lowered the cost to attend the Chelsea-Fluminense semifinal at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to $13.40 from $473.90, then dropped tickets to the final between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain from $330 to $199.60.

There will be 104 matches at next year's expanded 48-nation World Cup, and many are likely to be on weekday afternoons. FIFA has not said whether it will use dynamic pricing at the tournament and has declined to comment on discounting.

The 63 matches of this new club showpiece eventually drew 2.49 million fans, about 62 percent of the listed capacity. FIFA didn't disclose tournament venue capacities, focusing instead on tickets sold rather than the around 1.5 million unfilled seats, and would not address price cuts.