• Participation within this 'World Football' is only available to members who have had 5+ posts approved elsewhere.
  • Turn On Christmas Radio

    Bah humbug - to turn off the snow, visit your preferences and select a style that isn't Christmas.

2026 FIFA World Cup


riddick said:
This is literally in my home country for the first time I'm an adult. I was planning on taking like a month off and just hit up as many matches as possible. Not even going to go to one match. It's bullshit. The tickets are astronomical. I have a friend who has been to every world cup since 94 and he's not going to go to any matches either. We're actually talking about flying to Europe and watching some of the matches there because it will be cheaper than going to a match here.
Click to expand...
So I went to Army Navy yesterday and I think what happened there is an interesting story in light of what is probably about to happen next summer. Tickets for the game were released months ago and basically the entirety of the football season the cheapest tickets you could buy were $675. The tickets for my seats that I have for the Ravens were $880 in September. Mind you I pay roughly $950 for the entire Ravens season (yes that’s still exuberant but at some point what can you do? We’ve had these for over 20 years now).

A couple of weeks ago I was planning a trip to Ohio for work and had to decide if I was going to come back in time to maybe go yesterday if something opened up and tickets were still $250. I planned to stay there. Weather got dicey and I ended up flying back early and being home early enough yesterday that I was able to check again and go to the game for a final price of $80. I reckon if I waited another hour they’d have been even cheaper still.

The other important piece here is the stadium was not full. It’ll be announced as a sell out, but tickets went unused I have no doubt about this. Part of the issue is even with Annapolis and the academy being close to Baltimore Army Navy is a travel event and people aren’t traveling if they can’t get into the event for less than several hundreds of dollars. Which is why this story is relevant to the World Cup. That is the global travel event other than possibly the Olympics.

I have no doubt tickets are going to drop. The experience is kinda ruined already though. I’m with you, I wanted to travel for this. Now I’m thinking I may get a game in Philly or NJ and maybe make a trip to Atlanta to visit friends and try to go once. But it’ll have to be last minute and that’s annoying. It also ruins live sports when everyone is being extorted like this because it takes the people who care out of play and makes the experience worse which snowballs endlessly as less people want to pay high prices for worse experiences.

I guess my point here is nothing more than the entire American ticketing culture right now is just absolutely broken and it stinks for people who love going to games as a hobby.
 
This whole event feels like I’ve been sick in my mouth.
For me the world cup / euros were the best summers of my childhood.
as you fish adult inchased the childhood dream of going to the events… but that magics gone
 
TheBigIguana said:
I guess my point here is nothing more than the entire American ticketing culture right now is just absolutely broken and it stinks for people who love going to games as a hobby.
Click to expand...

Turning tickets into a commodity to be bought and sold was an utter disaster. People buying season tickets to sell them off game by game for profit, prices are outlandish until the very last minute, loads of visiting team fans and tourists all over the stadium reducing home field advantage.
 

mmmmsnouts said:
Turning tickets into a commodity to be bought and sold was an utter disaster. People buying season tickets to sell them off game by game for profit, prices are outlandish until the very last minute, loads of visiting team fans and tourists all over the stadium reducing home field advantage.
Click to expand...

That's often the irony though. I use sites like stubhub to get in less than face value, because as the event gets closer the prices inevitably fall as sellers are more willing to meet the price the demand dictates. There are so many games in the US, there are really good events to go where demand doesn't meet supply and you can get a better deal than face value.

But where there truly is demand, obviously the price goes or stays up.

I'm taking my son to Dortmund in January, and the landscape there to buy tickets is completely different. You're almost forced to buy through the club, which is good for prices but it's poor for service and planning. There is a bit of a tradeoff for each system. Obviously a favor whichever is the cheapest because I hate spending money. Which is also why I won't be going to any WC matches unless I can get tickets for very cheap somehow...

In terms of FIFA's money grab, they're not even pretending any longer. This organization is nothing but a profit machine.
 
Fifa has announced a 50% increase in the prize money it will award to participating teams at next year's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

I'm sure we are all highly delighted about this. 🙄
 
I live in Canada and when it was announced we were getting games there was no doubt in my mind that they would be exorbitantly priced out of my range.

I hope it's a massive optics disaster especially with all of that pathetic pandering the the orange Fuhrer.
 

Bruce Wayne said:
I went to an American football game last year and there was no atmosphere at all. The sport kinda doesn't allow it as you have a few seconds of sport and then a minute or two of nothing that's usually filled by an MC trying to engage the fans, and the fans can't get anything organic going, such as a chant or song, as the MC drowns them out.
Click to expand...
yep, went to SF Giants vs Padres last year and we did have a good time but largely as a result of the stadium and talking to some of the fans. No real energy or passion to any of it, the nearest was a few slightly drunk Padres fans teasing the San Fransciscans, who just smiled along. We explained to a couple near us how fans are segregated in the UK and they were stunned.
However, footy at Portland Timbers was absolutely belting - proper fans, proper game, taunting, griping, booing, swearing, we felt right at home :lol:
 

Welcome

Join Grand Old Team to get involved in the Everton discussion. Signing up is quick, easy, and completely free.

Register

Shop

Back
Top