Editorial | Sports ticket pricing is absurd
Collage by Easton Clark, Photo Editor
What would you spend $1,409 on? Plane tickets for a European vacation? Maybe a new phone or a laptop? Would you put it toward college loan payments? Or get rent out of the way for the month?
You could do any number of things — including getting a ticket for the worst seat in the house to watch the U.S. men’s national team’s World Cup opener in LA this summer. Up in the rafters of SoFi Stadium, about as far from the excitement as one can get. The Paraguayan and U.S. players in the match will become just a figment of the imagination from that high up.
And it costs $1,409.
The outrage over World Cup ticket prices isn’t new. From the beginning, FIFA has made things as complicated as possible. First, fans entered a lottery to have a chance to purchase tickets. Those who were chosen had a great shock when many games they wanted to attend were taken, and the cheapest $60 seats were already gone.
Oh yeah, and this was before the official draw. Nobody knew what teams would play each other and where. Everything was a risk — an expensive risk at that.
Even without outrageous ticket prices, it is already controversial enough to host the tournament in a country whose president has outwardly threatened genocide against another nation while sicking federal agents on immigrants at home. Other nations and international groups have put travel advisories against the U.S., while one of the host nations itself has plenty of travel bans against competing nations.
Where are the redeeming qualities of this tournament outside of the players and fans?
Full disclosure, I have tickets to five World Cup matches in Atlanta this summer. I bought the cheapest seats on the resale market for each game before we even knew who was going to play. Prices skyrocketed after teams like Spain and Morocco were scheduled to come to the city. But even with taking a risk on tickets and budgeting the best I could, the cost still came to over $1,300 in total.
One of the things I’m looking forward to the most is experiencing the culture of the countries I’m seeing play. The people are what I care about. But I’m worried that when I show up to Atlanta, it’s going to be a wasteland lacking any soul.
Now, I’m sure that the games will be well attended. The pull of the World Cup is too immense. However, there is no guarantee that the true supporters will make their way to the U.S. With prices this high, it gets less likely by the day.
And then you have the Summer 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The events were advertised as cheap. The first ticket drop — meant only for people residing in the LA area — was supposed to be a way for locals to get access to the games at a reasonable price. And then the rug was pulled out from under everybody.
Homeless people will likely be displaced because of the games. Traffic will likely come to a standstill, and prices will almost certainly go up around the city. The tickets were supposed to be a refuge. If the Olympics committee couldn’t figure out a solution to these other issues, at least residents could enjoy the games live. How wrong we were.
Being able to attend these events matters to me deeply. I am willing to splurge a large amount of money to have that experience and share it with the people I’m closest to. But I don’t feel as though I should have to dip into my savings to watch a 90-minute football match or one night of swimming at the Olympics.
The level of greed being shown is insane. These competitions posture as a place for the world to come together. A way for everyone to enjoy the unity that is sports. But how can you foster that level of enjoyment when the ticket prices for just one game can be a month’s salary for some fans?
Sports — especially the premier competitions — should be more about the fans than anything else. The 2022 World Cup would not have been as iconic if not for the swathes of jubilant Argentinian fans, the Moroccans who created a heavenly orchestra in the stands or the English with their half-drunken chants of self-deprecation.
FIFA is aiming for a corporate crowd with this pricing structure. And as the games go deeper into the tournament, the ticket prices only get higher. The cheapest for the World Cup final are hitting $9,500-plus on resale markets. While this event has never been inexpensive, this is a new level of greed.
None of this includes airfare, hotels and food for those traveling to see their country compete. Many host cities are also raising the cost of train tickets that will transport fans to the stadium. And parking will be limited at many locations. Ordinary people are being priced out of a beautiful cultural experience.
The World Cup means something deeper to so many fans. It is more than a tournament. It is a way to display national pride. To celebrate the best of the best from your country. A way to show others your culture and learn from them. It should not be marred by unfair costs. The tickets are much more expensive than previous years, which just shows the level of price gouging FIFA is engaged in.
In an era where gas prices have zero stability. In a generation of serial renters, where nobody young can own property. In a time where political unrest threatens our everyday life, are we also not allowed our bread and circuses? Do we not get easy access to enjoyment?
Even when potentially presented with the opportunity to experience something many have dreamt of seeing since childhood, we are once again left out to dry.
