FIFA introduced a new category of ticket prices called “Supporter Entry Tier” tickets on Tuesday, following uproar from national supporters’ associations about the cost of World Cup entry for traveling fans.
World football’s governing body said the discounted $60 (roughly €51) tickets would be available for all 104 matches of the tournament, including the final. This is significant as original plans for final tickets foresaw no prices below $4,000 for supporters buying via their national football associations.
The competition in the US, Mexico and Canada between June 11 and July 19 next year looks sure to be the most expensive World Cup for supporters ever, comfortably outstripping even the record prices in oil-rich Qatar in 2022.
How many $60 tickets are available and for whom?
The new tier of tickets will make up 10% of the tickets allocated to Participating Member Associations (PMAs), FIFA said.
In other words, of the limited number of tickets FIFA allocates to the national associations competing in a given match to sell to loyal fans, 10% will be priced this way.
“In total, half of each PMA’s ticket allocation will fall within the most affordable categories: 40% under the Supporter Value Tier and 10% under the new Supporter Entry Tier,” FIFA said in a statement.
FIFA said it would be up to individual national associations to define the eligibility criteria and application process.
“They are requested to ensure that these tickets are specifically allocated to loyal fans who are closely connected to their national teams,” it said.
As an example, let’s take Scotland, whose FA had published itemized data on its ticket allocation for its first World Cup since 1998. Its football association has just under 4,000 tickets to distribute among fans, at various prices ranges, for its three group games in Massachusetts and Miami — in stadiums that seat more than 60,000. So on that basis, taking FIFA’s 10% figure at face value, it should now have between 370 and 390 tickets costing $60 for each game.
FIFA also said it would waive the administrative fees paid by fans applying for knockout stage tickets, in the hope that their national team advances, when issuing refunds if their team failed to progress to the latter stages.
Hundreds for a group stage match, thousands for the final
The reduced price comes a week after sharp criticism of the World Cup ticket prices from the Football Supporters Europe (FSE) group, which described the prices as “extortionate” and calculated that a hypothetical supporter following their country in every game to the final in July would have to spend “a minimum of $6,900” if buying tickets from their national football association.
The three-country World Cup in North America, which for the first time will feature 48 teams rather than 32, is expected to bring in billions in revenues for FIFA.
FIFA says demand is high, with more than 20 million ticket applications received in its latest sales phase.
Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, the cheapest group stage tickets for supporters of countries other than co-hosts the US, Mexico and Canad ranged from $140 to $265, with higher prices typically applying to games involving more presitigous and well-supported teams.
Eight years ago when vying for the rights to hold the competition, the hosts had pledged that hundreds of thousands of tickets costing $21 would be made available for group stage games. The most expensive tickets for the 1994 World Cup in the US sold for $475, rather than the $8,680 currently foreseen for the coming year.
The current phase of the ticket applications began on December 11 and will run until January 13 when the draw is scheduled to take place.
Edited by: Kieran Burke
