Astronomical prices for tickets to the upcoming World Cup soccer tournament have sparked an investigation by the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport jointly announced that they’re subpoenaing documents from tournament organizer FIFA about its pricing practices for matches at New Jersey’s MetLife stadium.
The issue at hand is prices and seating, with the pair saying that “fans may have been misled about the locations of the seats they were purchasing, and FIFA’s public statements and ticket releases may have contributed to soaring prices.”
FIFA’s ticketing process and seat maps at MetLife stadium, which will be renamed New York New Jersey Stadium during the tournament, are under investigation.
Initially, the stadium was divided into four zones, with the lower-numbered zones in better areas, but after ticket sales began, FIFA created “new zones” and added a front section in each category.
Fans complained that buyers of tickets for seats in the new zones “were excluded from those seats and instead assigned less-desirable seats, including seats far from the field or behind the goals.”
The subpoena requests information from FIFA about how tickets are allocated to participating members, how tickets to each match are allocated, and the number of tickets available in each category.
Related: Asia’s economy splits amid tech and energy woes
FIFA’s ticket prices for group matches in the US began at $60 for a small number of tickets and went up to more than $600, according to the outlet.
Face-value tickets for the final were as much as $10,990, and fans were already angry about the high prices, which quickly soared exponentially higher on resale platforms – including $2 million for the final.
In response to the outrage, last week New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced an initiative to sell $50 tickets for city residents.
“Being honest about ticket sales is not complicated,” said New Jersey AG Davenport. “But FIFA has turned buying a ticket to the World Cup into a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity, and impossibly high prices.”
Her counterpart, AG James, said New Yorkers “deserve a fair shot at affordable tickets” and that “fans should be able to trust that the tickets they purchase will be the ones they receive.”
Lifelong soccer fan Brett Prodzinksi found today’s announcement to be welcome news after he felt shorted by FIFA when purchasing tickets online last month.
After waiting in a queue for hours, he said he found two desirable tickets at the Seattle stadium, which he purchased for $515 each.
Minutes later, he got his confirmation email and his seats were in a completely different spot – behind the goal, on the opposite side of the stadium.
Related: New law targets revenge porn online
“They have baited and switched their product to a lot of people,” Prodzinksi said. “I was willing to pay what I knew would be inflated prices, but I just think they’re taking advantage of the fans.”
FIFA declined to comment, but previously told journalists on the scene that its “pricing strategy spans a broad range of price points and categories, reflecting market demand for each match.”
Earlier this month, California Attorney General Rob Bonta also requested information from FIFA “to assess whether California law may have been violated” during the sales process.
Upcoming World Cup Schedule
The 2026 World Cup will be hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, with games played across all three countries, and begins on June 11.
The first match in New Jersey is on June 13, with a total of 8 matches scheduled, including the final on July 19, which will likely draw many fans who are looking for gas prices to be as low as the ticket prices are high.
For more information on the 2026 World Cup, visit the official FIFA website.
The investigation by the New York and New Jersey attorneys general is ongoing, and fans will be watching closely to see what actions are taken to address the issue of high ticket prices.
Leave a Reply