Who is the World Cup for anymore?

0:01NPR.

0:11This is The Indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong. The men's FIFA World Cup is coming to the U.S. next year. It's going to be the biggest World Cup ever, but it's also likely to be the most expensive and the most elusive for your average soccer fan. Just check out what they're saying on social media. When FIFA opened the presale for official tickets, I was shocked to see the prices. Just reading into the ticket prices for the World Cup next year, horrible. Absolutely horrible. This was a shambolic rollout. Has anyone seen the ticket prices they're charging for these games? I'm joined now by another fan.

0:46He also happens to be NPR's senior business editor, Raphael Nam. Welcome. Hey, Oylen. Hi, and you are a, like, super, super fan, right? I hear you've been to, what, six World Cups? I have. Six of them. The World Cup has taken me to South Africa, Brazil, Russia. Total, five continents. Now, this is not the first time the World Cup has been in the U.S. That was in 1994. But it's much bigger this time. There's 48 teams spread out across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Yes, I was actually there in 1994. That was my first World Cup game ever. I was in high school then, and I saw an ad in the newspaper.

1:25So I called the phone number and talked to this very nice lady and got tickets to South Korea versus Bolivia near Boston. It ended up being a 0-0 game, but honestly, I had such a blast. And getting tickets was so easy. You must have been so, so excited when you heard the World Cup was coming back to the U.S. You know something? You would have thought, right? But honestly, my first reaction was a very strongly worded version of, oh, no. Oh, no? Why? What were you thinking? As you've heard, right? For the first time in World Cup history, the tickets are extremely expensive and hard to get. Yes, so today on the show, we'll talk about just what FIFA is doing this time around, how it differs from previous World Cups, and what it means for next year's tournament and for fans.

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2:53All the professionals you need to reach in one place. Get a$250 credit on your next campaign so you can try it yourself. Just go to linkedin.com slash nprpod. That's linkedin.com slash nprpod. Terms and conditions apply. Only on LinkedIn ads. Now we all know FIFA has been a controversial organization. There was a huge corruption scandal in 2015 that led to the indictment of a handful of people. And FIFA is known for cozying up to countries with questionable human rights records like Qatar and Russia. But the one thing for us fans is that every World Cup so far has been more or less affordable.

3:32Yeah, so average fans could still go. Yeah, and at the start of the sales process, FIFA would release a table with all the ticket prices, right? From the opening match to the knockout games and then all the way to the final. Looking at the last World Cup in Qatar, for the initial set of games, tickets ranged from just about$11 up to around$220. Tickets did get more expensive for the knockout rounds, But all in all, we are not talking like Super Bowl prices. Yeah, I know. I was there for an entire month in Qatar. I watched over 20 games. I watch all the Korea games. I'm a big fan. That's why I go to the World Cups.

4:07And I also saw that awesome Argentina-France final. I was on parental leave, Waylon, and I was like, I'm so going. Qatar is a very small country, so all the stadiums are easily reachable. It was a great experience. Did you have your kid in a baby, Bjorn? Yeah, I did. I was taking care of my baby and trying to get tickets to the game. Wow. Multitasking. I know. But one of the first inklings that this World Cup might be different was when FIFA said it would implement a type of dynamic pricing for the first time. Dynamic pricing like the way airlines sell seats at the highest price they feel they can charge until they sell out of seats on the plane.

4:43Yeah. And the other thing for 2026 is that FIFA is not releasing many details about ticket prices. In fact, the first time fans learned about ticket prices was during a pre-sale that happened last month. There was a lottery where people applied for a chance to get tickets, and then those who were picked were given a date and a time slot to buy the actual tickets. And when those lucky lottery winners logged in, they discovered that prices were all over the place, and they were a lot more expensive. And each game seems to have different prices. In the opening rounds, there were some tickets available for$60, but that was only for a tiny part of this gigantic NFL stadium.

5:22In fact, most of the tickets were between$200 to$600. The U.S. games were the most expensive ones. Take the opening game, right? The cheapest prices are over$500. And again, that's for a very tiny part of the stadium. And get this, many seats for the final this time will be at least$6 ,000. And they may not even be great seats. What? And FIFA has said these prices are to align to the way sports tickets are priced in the U.S. But this is the thing. FIFA so far is facing no issue selling tickets. In fact, they just announced that they sold out in this first phase. Yeah, and that was over a million tickets.

6:02But, you know, FIFA always said this World Cup would see the biggest demand ever. I mean, it makes sense, right, Waylon? If you combine the population of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, you're talking about half a billion people already. Right. And I wasn't planning to go. So that's half a billion minus one. Still a big crowd. It is. Yeah. And FIFA's sale process is in many ways perfectly geared for FOMO. They sell tickets in Windows, meaning instead of selling them all at once, they release tickets in batches and they hold these lotteries. Yeah. And you know what happens then? When people are chosen for a lottery, they're so excited.

6:39So, you know, they're already itching to log in and just buy. It's like when you see people trampling each other to grab everything in sight during Black Friday, remember? Yeah, so these World Cup tickets are like the equivalent of a very cheap flat screen TV. They are, yeah. And if you're logged in, right, you could say no thanks. But what if prices go even higher? What if you don't get another chance? In fact, the second sales window starts tomorrow. FIFA, again, has not disclosed what the prices will be this time. So you won't find out until you log in. And that's if you were picked, after FIFA held the lottery last month.

7:13And I guess people who face buyer's remorse could say, well, I'll just sell it in the secondary market. I could flip it for a profit. And in fact, FIFA runs its own marketplace for people hoping to resell tickets. And some fans might want to sell tickets anyways, because FIFA hasn't determined the final schedule, right? Or who's playing with who yet. So fans are buying tickets for games without knowing who's playing. And this is the biggest World Cup ever. 48 teams. So for every big team like Spain or England, you have Cape Verde, the second smallest country to ever qualify, or Uzbekistan and Jordan, which are also first timers.

7:50So essentially, this is just a whole lot of uncertainty. You don't know if you can get a ticket, how much it will be, or when your favorite team will even play. Yes, but FIFA has an answer to that. An expensive one, though, Waylon. For hundreds or even thousands of dollars, it gives you a guaranteed chance to get a ticket. No lottery for the venue of your choice. You just don't know the price. That will be determined later. It's called right to buy. Man, the gamification just keeps on going. And there's another way to guarantee a ticket, right? Yeah, it's the so-called hospitality seat. And with this one again, no lottery.

8:25But you can also, for more money, pick which team you want to see. But you'll need to pony up at least$1 ,400 for the opening round. And they go higher, much higher. Like, you can buy a bundle of eight games at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which includes the final. The cheapest price? $26 ,000. But people are paying these kinds of prices. And you know how I know? Uh, I'm afraid to ask how you know. Honestly, this is one of those moments in a horror movie. Like, the call is coming within the house. Oh no, what happened? I bought hospitality seats. You did not. I did, I did. Well, Waylon, hear me out.

9:07I've obsessively followed games for South Korea in every World Cup. And I was like, I just cannot miss out. The FOMO got you. It got you good. I know. But I did. And honestly, I don't know how I feel about it. Part of me is glad. I don't have to go through all this hand-wringing. What if I don't get picked in the lottery? Or what if I can't get tickets? Because FIFA holds all the cards here, right? This is the U.S., and FIFA knows people will pay. People like me. Okay, so you are guaranteed a seat at the World Cup, your seventh World Cup. Yeah, I guess so. I'll be in my enormously overpriced seat.

9:46But hey, those hospitality seats include drinks and free finger foods, I think. But either way, I'll be there. Well, Rafael, thank you for coming. I can't wait to live the World Cup vicariously through you and all your free refills. Well, thank you, Waylon.

10:05This episode was produced by Corey Bridges with engineering by Robert Rodriguez. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Kincannon edits the show, and The Indicator is a production of NPR.

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