FIFA President Defends Exorbitant World Cup Ticket Prices as 'Market Rates,' Compares to CFB Games
FIFA president Gianni Infantino attempted to defend the absurd prices for this summer's World Cup while speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverley Hills on Wednesday.
"We have to look at the market—we are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world. So we have to apply market rates," Infantino pontificated, per The Guardian. "In the U.S. it is permitted to resell tickets as well. So if you were to sell tickets at the price which is too low, these tickets will be resold at a much higher price. And as a matter of fact, even though some people are saying that the ticket prices we have are high, they still end up on the resale market at an even higher price, more than double of our price."
The difference, of course, is that fans could simply choose to avoid the resale market altogether, which would likely drive the prices back down. But if the prices are astronomically high to begin with, fans have little recourse and the resale market will be even more absurd in response. And while FIFA doesn't control the prices established on its own resale market, the fact that it is taking a 15 percent purchase fee from buyers and 15 percent purchase fee from sellers further drives up costs.
As The Guardian noted, the most expensive ticket for 2022's World Cup final was around $1,600, while that figure has skyrocketed to $11,000 this year.
Infantino also claimed that World Cup prices simply reflected the costs of attending live sports in the United States.
"You cannot go to watch in the U.S. a college game, not even speaking about a top professional game of a certain level, for less than $300," he said. "And this is the World Cup."
While ticket prices for sporting events have continued to rise, Infantino's argument was a bit off base. If you wanted to watch the Atlanta Braves face the Los Angeles Dodgers this Saturday, for instance, you could find a number of tickets for under $100, and the Dodgers are one of the most expensive home tickets in Major League Baseball. A World Cup game may be a bit more desirable than a ticket for a regular-season baseball game, but pricing the average fan out of the event altogether is hard to justify no matter the context.
The backlash has been pronounced. Nobody outside of FIFA is pleased with the pricing structure of this year's event, and none of Infantino's empty excuses are likely to change that fact.
