Before the World Cup started, fans raged over the cost of tickets \u2014 the highest ever for the tournament. Critics wondered whether prices would crash before kickoff, and if swathes of empty seats would embarrass Fifa\u2019s pricing strategy.<\/p>\n
After the first week of matches, ticket demand has held up on resale platforms, with prices staying steady and some cases increasing. Stadiums are also close to full, and prices for the most exciting early games have hit highs of over $4 000.<\/p>\n
Fifa, the sport\u2019s global governing body, has engaged in more aggressive ticketing tactics compared with previous tournaments, including dynamic pricing, staggered ticket drops and promoting its own resale platform. The event is expected to generate $11 billion in revenue, the most in the tournament\u2019s history. That has prompted accusations by some fans that the organiser is prioritising profits over creating an enjoyable and accessible experience for people from all over the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s led to a bit of confusion and frustration among fans wanting to attend these matches,\u201d said Michael Johnson, an analyst at S&P Global. \u201cThey expected prices to drop once this tournament has started, but that really hasn\u2019t happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s World Cup is being hosted in North America, with matches being played in 16 cities across the US, Canada and Mexico. Early on, in the days leading up to the tournament and in some of the first games, there were reports of empty seats in stadiums and tickets still available on Fifa\u2019s official site. That suggested fans were rebelling against high prices for tickets, or transportation.<\/p>\n
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But despite negative press, premium demand is strong and tickets scarce, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kevin Near. That\u2019s helping primary sales, though resales should heat up as the tournament progresses, he said. The first round of group-play matches have also been exciting, likely juicing demand, with one of the biggest upsets in the tournament\u2019s history and stellar performances by football\u2019s biggest stars, including Lionel Messi\u2019s hat trick of goals for Argentina.<\/p>\n
Chris Leyden, senior director of marketing at resale platform SeatGeek Inc., said Fifa likely priced tickets similar to what a fan would pay for marquee sports events in the US. The average price for a group stage World Cup ticket on SeatGeek was $750 as of June 12, comparable to a National Football League playoff game. In five days since then, 84% of matches have experienced price increases on the platform, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen on the resale side is a lot of the World Cup games have ended up being pretty close to the pricing that Fifa did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nUS players celebrate after a goal during the Fifa World Cup 2026 Group D match between USA and Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium on June 12. Photographer: Dean Mouhtaropoulos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Pricing and availability varies considerably depending on who\u2019s playing and who\u2019s winning. For example, after the US team notched a record-setting win over Paraguay in its opening match, prices soared 68% to $2,314 for the June 19 game in Seattle against Australia, according to prices from resale platforms compiled by aggregator site Ticket Data. Prices to the US team\u2019s June 25 game against Turkey in Los Angeles have risen 105% over the last few days to $2,150, according to Ticket Data.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, games involving Mexico against South Korea or Colombia vs. Portugal are up only 15%, but prices are already super high. The Miami face-off between Colombia and Portugal, the team of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, costs $2,573 on average, Leyden said.<\/p>\n
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The uncertainty of match outcomes means some fans, including those who purchased tickets before game lineups were set in December, might actually lose money by selling their tickets for a lower price than what they bought them for.<\/p>\n
The cheapest match on SeatGeek is currently a group stage face-off on June 26 between the tiny African nation of Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in Houston, with an average ticket price of $236, Leydon said.<\/p>\n
World Cup tickets on SeatGeek are still cheaper on average than those sold for Taylor Swift\u2019s Eras Tour, Leyden said, though he expects they they will be closer in price near the end of the tournament. Swift\u2019s global concert tour, which took place across nearly two years in 51 cities in 21 countries, generated a record $2.2 billion in revenue. The average resale ticket price in North America for the Eras tour was a reported $3,801.<\/p>\n
Fifa has also been pushing its own resale platform, which may make it harder for fans to secure something affordable. Fifa takes a 15% transaction fee from the buyer and seller, which Leyden said \u201cis broadly pretty high\u201d relative to other platforms, though he declined to disclose SeatGeek\u2019s fee structure.<\/p>\n
There has also been speculation that Fifa has been shifting unsold tickets to secondary marketplaces, according to S&P Global\u2019s Johnson. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of creating a sense of artificial scarcity, which is kind of pushing fans to pay a little bit higher prices in both the primary and secondary markets,\u201d he said. \u00a0Fifa did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
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Alex Bird, a blog editor at Ticket-Compare.com, a site that tracks ticket prices for soccer matches on resale markets, said part of why Fifa priced tickets so high was to discourage ticket reselling and that its staggered release system also helped inflate prices by limiting supply.<\/p>\n
These tactics do the most harm to local fans, who are the ones most likely to buy resale tickets. Those travelling from other cities and countries probably would have purchased their tickets well in advance, as they had to plan their flights and accommodation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t something you\u2019re going to do with the resale market at the last minute,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s for local people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some cities drew the short straw when it came to matches. A study from Ticket-Compare found that San Francisco and Atlanta were the two cheapest US cities to buy tickets in, noting that they\u2019re hosting lower-profile teams like Jordan, Algeria and the Czech Republic. But lingering high ticket prices combined with weaker teams might mean sparse attendance.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at it now, you could conclude that there\u2019ll be a significant number of empty seats in those stadiums,\u201d Bird said.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
#World #Cup #2026s #dynamic #pricing #tickets<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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