The Soccer Champions Tour 2022 game between Spanish giants Real Madrid and Serie A club, Juventus at the Rose Bowl, in Pasadena, California, on June 30 witnessed a crowd of 93,702.
The game saw the largest football crowd in the United States since July 2018, when 101,254 people packed Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to witness Liverpool take on Manchester United in Relevent Sports’ International Champions Cup.
The match between the two football giants also saw the biggest audience for any sports game in Southern California since the Rose Bowl game in 2017.
The Soccer Champions Tour was established by Los Angeles-based sports and live entertainment organisation, AEG. The contest included European teams such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Juventus. Along with them, Liga MX teams Club América and Club Deportivo Guadalajara also participated.
Five matches took place from July 22-30 on the Soccer Champions Tour. The tournament also marked the first return of Barcelona and Real Madrid to the United States since 2019, and Juventus’ come back since 2018.
Given the short preparation time, the championship was a massive success as on average 56,000 fans attended each of the five games.
Tom Braun, Senior Vice President of Soccer, Business Operations and Business Development, AEG, said, “We wouldn’t have done it unless we thought it was going to be successful. There’s a lot of pent-up demand. You have the Uefa Champions League winners in Madrid. You have a perennial champion in Juventus. We didn’t see it as risky. We saw it as these teams haven’t been here for a lot of years because of Covid.”