In the land of the free, World Cup tickets are anything but: FIFA’s official resale platform is advertising seats for the final from between $8,000 (about £6,000) for the cheapest and $57,000 (about £43,200) for a category one seat.
FIFA’s use of a dynamic pricing system and the legal right in the United States to resell tickets at many times their face value means the cost of attending a World Cup match next year is spiralling so much that it will be prohibitively expensive for many ordinary fans.
Fans’ leaders and consumer groups have accused FIFA of trying to squeeze too much money out of ticket revenue instead of prioritising supporters, and of benefiting from “scalping” — reselling tickets for more than their face value. There have also been criticisms around a lack of transparency and communication — FIFA has not, so far, publicly announced the starting prices of any tickets for the tournament hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, which starts on June 11.
By contrast, UEFA is using a model for Euro 2028 — hosted by England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland — which it says will ensure the majority of tickets for most matches are reasonably priced, with the idea of instead maximising income from the smaller number of higher-category seats.
FIFA appears to be doing the opposite for the World Cup. Stadium maps of the expected seating plan show that the majority are in the most expensive category one, with only a tiny section for the cheapest category four seats. However, FIFA says it cannot give a breakdown of the proportion of seats in each category because that too will change according to demand.
Its defence is that the laws in the US and Canada, though not in the other host nation of Mexico, mean that its system is the best way of coping with the highly sophisticated ticket market in those countries. Allowing the resale of tickets at vastly inflated prices on its official platform, and charging the seller and buyer each a 15 per cent fee, means FIFA — and therefore football — will benefit financially, rather than a secondary ticket platform.
The fans’ organisation Football Supporters Europe (FSE) and the campaign group Euroconsumers do not accept that explanation, however. They have written a joint letter to world football’s governing body, stating: “The fact that scalping is legal doesn’t mean FIFA must become the scalper.”
The Times has seen a copy of the letter, which says there are other, fairer systems for allocating tickets which FIFA should have used. It also raises issues around transparency. For example, FIFA has said the cheapest tickets for the tournament will start at $60, but it has not been made clear which matches they are available for.
An interior view of SoFi Stadium before the Concacaf Gold Cup final match between Mexico and Panama.
A single category one ticket to see the USA’s opening match at LA’s SoFi Stadium could set you back £75,000
As a stadium plan on FIFA’s website shows, only a tiny proportion of tickets for this game in Miami are in the cheapest category one
A category four ticket for the USA’s opening group match at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, for instance, was initially priced at $560 rather than $60. On FIFA’s resale platform, the cheapest category four ticket was on sale as of Tuesday for $1,569, with category one tickets between $4,255 and a barely believable $99,513 (about £75,125).
FIFA will receive $300 for every $1,000 spent on its resale platform. A person buying a $1,000 ticket would have to pay $1,150, with 15 per cent ($150) going to FIFA, which also takes 15 per cent from the seller, who would receive $850.
The letter from FSE/Euroconsumers to Heimo Schirgi, FIFA’s chief operating officer for the World Cup, states that “dynamic or variable pricing, regardless of whether it is algorithmic or manually adjusted, has no place in football”.
It adds: “Implementing such a strategy will be perceived as revenue maximisation under the guise of responding to market realities. The World Cup is not a commercial product like any other: it is a global cultural event that depends on the passion, loyalty, and inclusion of ordinary fans.
“We fear that fans will continue to feel excluded and exploited by a pricing model that fails to reflect the spirit of the World Cup.”
The letter also calls on FIFA to “clearly communicate the prices for each seating category and the precise distribution of these categories for each match” and to “introduce safeguards to protect consumers from excessive price fluctuations or exclusion, particularly for high-demand fixtures”.
The ticketing policy has been a hard sell for FIFA, which has now confirmed it will not use a dynamic or variable pricing system for the next round of ticket sales to the general public or for those allocated to national associations. Each team will get 8 per cent of the stadium capacity for their matches to sell to their supporters, though those too can be resold for many times their face value.
However, fans applying via their national associations will be asked to apply for tickets to all group games and every possible knockout match through to the final. Fans must pay for those tickets in February and will be refunded in July if their team is knocked out — but FIFA will charge $10 per refunded ticket.
