AFP Sport evaluates the cost of attending the tournament matches:
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– How many tickets, how much demand? –
According to FIFA, world football’s governing body, almost seven million tickets have been made available in total. Each person can buy a maximum of four tickets per match and a total of 40 for the entire competition.
In the first lottery held in October, around two million tickets were sold. A second phase of sales in December and January was also a lottery and attracted a record 508 million applications, according to FIFA.
It has not said how many tickets have been allocated, but the most in-demand matches were the Group K final between Colombia and Portugal in Miami on June 27, co-host Mexico against South Korea in Guadalajara on June 18 and the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.
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– Prices skyrocket… –
A total of 104 matches will be played in this expanded World Cup, the first in history to feature 48 teams, and ticket prices have skyrocketed for the most in-demand matches. Fan group Football Supporters Europe said the North American bid had initially promised that tickets would be available for as little as $21, but instead the cheapest tickets that went on sale were for $60, for example, for the first Group J match between Austria and Jordan at Levi’s Stadium in California.
Most tickets cost at least $200 for matches involving leading nations, while the cheapest tickets for the final cost $2,000 and the best seats $8,680 – that’s not taking into account FIFA’s official resale site, where a category three seat for the match at MetLife Stadium on July 19 was advertised for a staggering $143,750, more than 41 times its original face value of $3,450.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino insists that ticket prices are simply a consequence of huge demand. “In the United States in particular there is something called dynamic pricing, which means that prices will go up or down,” depending on the party in question, he said.
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After facing constant criticism over pricing, FIFA announced a cheaper category of tickets, but the seats available for $60 were reserved for fans of qualified teams and would represent only 10 percent of each national federation’s allocation.
FIFA has also put packages on sale that combine match tickets with access to VIP lounges. For France against Senegal in New Jersey on June 16, those packages cost between $2,900 and $4,500.
– …And it keeps going up –
FIFA reserves an unspecified number of tickets that it will make available from April until the end of the tournament “on a first-come, first-serve basis.”
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Then there are the resale platforms, including the official FIFA site. But this controversial fan-to-fan market allows resellers to determine prices themselves, hence the huge advertised price for a final ticket.
The resale market is unregulated in the United States and Canada. In Mexico, reselling a ticket above its face value is prohibited, but only when the ticket is purchased in Mexico using the local currency.
A “category three” seat (the highest section of the stands) for the opening match of the tournament between Mexico and South Africa at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca on June 11 was recently listed at $5,324, compared to an original price of $895. Other sites like SeatGeek and StubHub were selling tickets at slightly lower prices.
– Additional costs –
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It’s not just ticket prices that traveling fans need to consider. Parking prices are also sky-high at many World Cup stadiums, which are often located far from the center of host cities. A parking lot space for a group game in Atlanta costs $100, while the price is $300 in Los Angeles.
An alternative for visiting fans who do not have match tickets is to attend one of the Fan Festivals in and around the 16 host cities. The Kansas City Fan Fest will be able to host up to 25,000 people. In New York, the US Open tennis venue in Flushing Meadows will be transformed into a fan zone with capacity for 10,000 paying visitors, although only from June 17 to 28.
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