It was a player himself who let the uncomfortable truth slip.
At a news conference on last week, LAFC forward Jeremy Ebobisse said the words everyone knew, but didn't necessarily want to hear: there are real questions as to how many people might attend Club World Cup matches.
"We need to see what the situation is going to be like when you get to the games," Ebobisse said. "It could be tough to feel how grand of an atmosphere it is if some of the stadiums maybe aren't living up to our internal expectations."
There it was. And in theory, it shouldn't be like this. The Club World Cup checks all of the boxes for a distinctly American soccer tournament: big venues, big marketing campaigns, a shiny trophy, the global player names you know but rarely get to see in person. Yet less than a week before the tournament starts, ticket sales remain sluggish. The opener between Inter Miami and Al-Ahly is not yet sold out. The upper deck of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, at this point, could look sparse.
FIFA wanted this to be a marquee event that will draw fans old and new to stadiums. The reality is, right now, there are questions as to whether that will actually come to fruition.