The most expensive World Cup ever just keeps getting costlier, even with some matches struggling to fill the stadium.
That is the strange contradiction sitting over the early stages of this tournament. Fans have already been hit by brutal ticket prices, expensive travel, and eye-watering food and drink once they get inside the grounds.
Yet even with empty seats visible at some games, the price of getting into World Cup matches is still rising. It is hard to square that logic, but tickets at this World Cup appear to be defying the basic principles of supply and demand.
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World Cup ticket prices are still climbing fast despite empty seats
According to The Athletic, FIFA’s official attendance figure for South Korea vs Czech Republic suggested the stadium was only around 700 supporters short of its 45,664 capacity.
That did not appear to line up with the thousands of empty seats visible throughout the game.
When asked to explain the apparent discrepancy, FIFA said: “Official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment during the match.
“FIFA works closely with stadium authorities and ticketing teams to ensure all published figures are based on verified operational data.”
Whether you believe that explanation is up to you.
This World Cup is being played across huge venues, with fans expected to cover major distances and absorb enormous costs. Even before the price of a ticket is considered, following a team around North America is a serious financial commitment.
But the ticket market does not seem to be reacting in the way many fans might expect.
TicketData’s tournament tracker shows that 12 matches had already been played, with the median final get-in price sitting at $980. Those completed games had seen a median seven-day rise of 43% in get-in price.
The numbers for upcoming matches are even more dramatic.
For the 92 matches still remaining, TicketData listed the median get-in price at $1,226. It also showed a median seven-day increase of 70%. That is an extraordinary rise.
Of those remaining games, 88 had increased by at least 25 percent over the previous seven days. Two were flat, and two had risen between 10 and 25 percent.
In simple terms, almost every remaining World Cup match is getting significantly more expensive.
That will be infuriating for supporters who have already seen how costly this tournament has become. Scotland fans faced a cheapest available price of $979 for their match against Haiti.
The cost of attending this World Cup is no longer just a background issue. It is becoming one of the defining stories of the tournament.
Empty seats should usually suggest prices need to come down. Instead, World Cup ticket prices are still moving sharply in the other direction. That might make sense to sellers trying to maximise revenue, but it makes far less sense to the fans who make this tournament so special.
- READ MORE: Almost 180,000 World Cup tickets still on resale market as US among teams yet to sell out games
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