$143,750 for a football World Cup ticket!
Eye-watering prices for upcoming global showpiece listed on FIFA’s resale platform
Dubai: Imagine having to shell out $143,750, just to watch one match of the upcoming football World Cup being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico and that too for a “category three” seat — the highest section of the stands!
FIFA’s official resale platform has listed a ticket with that eye-watering price tag for the final on July 19 at East Rutherford, New Jersey. The original price of that ticket was $3,450, meaning it is going on sale at 41 times its original face value! The cheapest available ticket for the final on the resale site was listed at $9,775.
As of Wednesday, a category three seat for the tournament’s opening game between Mexico and South Africa at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium on June 11 was listed at $5,324, compared to an original price of $895.
Like these two instances, seats for many matches are listed at several times their face value even though most tickets have only recently been distributed following the end of the main sales phase in January.
Exorbitant price tag
FIFA President Gianni Infantino had warned earlier that tickets made available on resale sites were likely to come with an exorbitant price tag.
But for football fans around the world, some of the prices on FIFA’s resale site are confirmation of what they have railed against since the tournament draw in December.
“These exorbitant prices unfortunately don’t surprise me. It reflects what we know and what we fight against: many people buy to resell,” said Guillaume Aupretre, spokesperson for the France national team supporters group “Irresistibles Francais”, which has nearly 2,500 members.
“In the end, who pays the price? The passionate fans who end up with outrageous offers. We would prefer that this benefit real fans who come to support their team, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.”
Yet, despite the steep price tag, sales remain brisk, reflecting a global clamour that has seen some 500 million requests for tickets according to FIFA.
Pricing model
While its resale platform benefits from FIFA’s endorsement, the football body specifies in its terms of sale that it acts only as a facilitator — for a 15% fee — in this fan-to-fan market, and that resellers are the ones who determine ticket prices.
“Generally speaking, the pricing model adopted for Fifa World Cup 26 reflects the existing market practice for major entertainment and sporting events within our hosts on a daily basis, soccer included,” FIFA said in a statement.
“This is also a reflection of the treatment of the secondary market for tickets, which has a distinct legal treatment than in many other parts of the world. We are focused on ensuring fair access to our game for existing but also prospective fans.”
The resale market is unregulated in the United States and Canada. In Mexico, reselling a ticket above face value is prohibited, but only when the ticket is purchased in Mexico using the local currency.
FIFA said that a final “last-minute” sales phase, from April until the end of the competition, will be organised on a “first-come, first-served” basis.
During these sales phases, FIFA states that it applies “variable pricing” whereby prices fluctuate “according to demand and availability” for each match.
