This time, the landscape has changed. More American fans are watching European soccer on television, stoking interest in seeing teams from England’s Premier League as well as clubs from France, Spain and elsewhere.

Teams in the I.C.C. are now contractually obligated to play some of their stars, not just their up-and-comers. (On Friday, though, Barcelona announced that it would not bring its two best players, Lionel Messi and Neymar, on its United States tour, most likely to rest them after the recent Copa América in Chile.)

“Every year, there are some fans who say it is not what they saw on TV and won’t go back,” said Steve Gans, a consultant to soccer teams. But, he added, the sport’s growing popularity in the United States means that many fans will continue to go to friendlies because they like the spectacle or are so devoted to their teams that they do not mind that the games are merely exhibitions.

There are also legions of fans outside the United States who want to watch the games, especially during the slow summer months. To reach them, the organizers made television deals with broadcasters in 169 countries, including an agreement with Fox Sports in the United States. Though they declined to disclose their rights fees, Tyler and Stillitano said that there was strong potential for more income from broadcast deals.

However, David Downs, a former executive at Univision who once led the North American Soccer League, said the I.C.C. schedules had not been released early enough to allow the networks to fully capitalize on selling ads for the games.

“The problem is the sales forces for the networks don’t know the schedule to deliver the ratings until the last moment,” he said, “so a lot of the ads are booked months in advance, often on an annual renewal basis.”

The real gold mine, he said, remains ticket sales. Indeed, attendance jumped to 642,000 last summer from 306,000 in 2013, when the tournament included several doubleheaders. So far, two games involving Barcelona have sold out. Some tickets for games in smaller M.L.S. stadiums like Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, where Paris St.-Germain will play Fiorentina of Italy and the Red Bulls will host Chelsea this week, cost several hundred dollars.