The recent no-show by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in Beijing and Hong Kong respectively had yet again got people asking if staging friendly games in this part of the world featuring high-profile marquees like the mentioned duo is a worthwhile investment. Leo Messi gave Singapore a miss in 2017 There's no doubt that to boost ticket sales, you need a few crowd pullers, and very often, these tickets aren't cheap, but many fans are still willing to pay a hefty price for them. However, recent games of such nature especially those held after the pandemic suggested fans are not going to splurge like they used to do and are taking a more cautious approach when times are bad. The recent pre-season games featuring a few top-tier European club sides in Singapore neither saw a packed stadium nor were the tickets being snapped up at a frantic pace. Notice the empty spaces in the background of the Liverpool-Leicester game in July 2023? Furthermore, those marquee are susceptible to