Gianni Infantino defended World Cup ticket prices on Tuesday and said he would personally bring a hot dog and a Coke to anyone who buys a final ticket for $2m. The Fifa president made the remarks at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills as criticism continued to build over the cost of seeing football's biggest tournament.
Last month, four tickets behind the goal for the World Cup final in New Jersey were listed for just under $2.3m apiece, or about £1.693m, though Fifa said those listings did not mean the tickets actually cost that much or would sell at that level. Infantino said prices were in line with other sporting events in the United States and argued that, because resale is allowed, tickets set too low can end up far more expensive on the secondary market.
“If some people put on the resale market some tickets for the final at $2m, number one, it doesn't mean that the tickets cost $2m, and number two, it doesn't mean that somebody will buy these tickets,” Infantino said. He added: “In the US, 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 said some resale prices had ended up “more than double our price.”
The World Cup is scheduled for 11 June to 19 July, and Fifa has consistently defended its pricing. Infantino said 25% of group-stage tickets can be bought for less than $300. He also said the resale market shows why the federation cannot simply keep prices low, because tickets can be flipped quickly once demand rises.
That logic is now meeting a hard limit in Toronto. Fifa updated its resale platform after Ontario’s new ban on selling event tickets above face value, and tickets for the six matches at Toronto Stadium were removed from the official marketplace last week. All tickets in Toronto, including ones already bought above face value, will now only be sold at their original price, while tickets at the other 15 venues can still be listed above face value on the marketplace.
The clash captures the central problem around fifa tickets for the tournament: Fifa wants to defend premium pricing as market-driven, while governments in Canada and furious fans are forcing parts of that market back down. The result is a World Cup in which a handful of seats may cost millions, some group-stage tickets remain relatively cheap, and the rules change depending on which side of the border you are sitting on.
