Do you think the '26 WC minnow games will sell out at the listed prices?
Aren’t there a lot of Iranians in LA? May be a tough ticket?
My guess is that they will have to cut prices for some group stage games to put butts in seats. Knockouts will sell even at the inflated prices.
We saw that pattern for Club WC. They greatly overpriced the minnow games, had to cut prices, and then still had a lot of empty seats. You would hope they learned something.
There are a lot of everyones here.
Issue with prices will be in more insular and isolated cities, like KC.
They should cut them earlier rather than later.
Completely agree. The minnow games should be priced to put butts in the seats now.
Didn’t get the suitcase of cash he wanted for not saying this
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I don’t see prices coming down. Everyone wants to go this. Viewed as a couple times in a lifetime opportunity in the US. And the US is so big each city has their own specific heavy demand and very limited supply. And will also be viewed as incredible hospitality event for business development. Where price sensitivity is very low.
Perhaps a slight exaggeration? The final of the 2022 edition drew nearly 26 million viewers. A big number, but that still means that 92% of Americans didn’t watch it. And that was the final. Granted that the time difference meant the game started at 10am East Coast time, so maybe a few less people than if played stateside.
Totally outrageous hosting costs. Taxpayers are unhappy. We should never have bid on these games. And the cost of actually attending a game adds insult to injury. Such a contrast to the Winter Games here in 2010 where much positive infrastructure was created.
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It is well established that FIFA has always exagerrated the economic benefits of a WC for the host countries. The only entity that walks away with large economic benefits is FIFA itself. This latest WC has just highlighted this behavior by FIFA, which will eventually come at a price as European countries have been watching this unfold.
FIFA, meanwhile, defends the high cost of hosting, arguing there is a long-term return that will benefit host cities. According to the soccer federation’s own assessment, Canada will see $3.8-billion in positive economic output, including $2-billion in GDP, $1.3-billion in labour income and 24,100 jobs created between 2023 and 2026.
A look at past World Cups raises questions about whether these investments truly pay off, however. Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based thinktank, said 12 of the last 14 World Cups hosted since 1966 have resulted in financial losses for their host countries. The last three World Cups have had an average negative return on investment of 31 per cent, according to a recent report from the group.
“FIFA justifies these high costs and lofty demands with the promise of economic returns. It says North American cities will receive a huge influx of tourists eager to spend their money on hotels, restaurants, and other parts of the local economy which will make up for the lost revenues,” the report’s author, Page Gray, said.
“Other countries’ experiences are less convincing.”
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Biggest cost for some of those countries was building brand new stadiums, then seeing them unused for a decade.
The “increased spending” needs to come from tourists, else it’s just locals choosing to go to a match instead spending locally on something else. If the cost of the match is four meals out, then that consumer will purchase four fewer meals out over some time.
It’s why I’m waiting until match day to buy tickets featuring two teams that I know nothing about, simply to knock “WC” off my bucket list. I’ll also be on the East Coast late June, near MA, NJ, PA, so will use the same M.O. there, too. No sale to anything over $100/ticket.
6/25: PA has Curacao-Ivory Coast. NJ has Ecuador-Germany (better match, so costs more)
6/23: MA has England-Ghana. That’ll be way too expensive. Might have to wait until 10 minutes into the match.
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My nephew and I managed to get US$70 tickets for the opening game of the Jays-Yankees playoff series in Toronto last fall. We were joking about it this morning while bemoaning WC ticket costs. Our cost of ticket plus flying out to Toronto was a bargain.
Per NYT:
FIFA is selling parking passes at 2026 World Cup games in Los Angeles for $250 or $300 per matchday and per spot — more than the price of some actual match tickets.
The passes are for parking spaces more than a mile away from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., according to listings on FIFA’s “official World Cup 2026 parking website.
At this stage it’s getting close to being a better deal if one waits until 2030 and flies to Morocco.
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Uber is going to make a killing.
Alternative is to take the K-Line train (connects to the E-Line which runs E/W from Santa Monica to Union Station in Downtown L.A.), which drops off 1.4 miles from the stadium. And walk through Inglewood.
Could stay in Pasadena (though I’d recommend closer to the coast, cuz gonna be hot), take the A-Line to Union Station. On off days, one can visit the Rose Bowl and wonder why no matches are being played there (not enough space for the ultra-rich, as well as it would also need to be widened due to seats being closer for throw/run-ball).
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Yes, its just getting silly at this point.
IIRC this is why Toronto walked away from an Olympics bid around 10 years ago
Toronto bid for the Summer Olympics several times and, thankfully, did not get them. They were going to make little use of existing infrastructure and the cost of new facilities (which would be unneeded going forward) would have cost gazillions.
I don’t know why they bid after seeing the financial fiasco of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Maybe it was embarrassing that Montreal had had an Olympics and Vancouver and Calgary had had Winter Games.
Need to get over the “embarrassment” and think about financial.