There\u2019s an obvious reason that anyone could have told Fifa. If they are \u201cnervous\u201d, loyal fans are agonising over life-changing money. Bodies like the Football Supporters Association (FSA) and US-based executives like the former Liverpool CEO Peter Moore<\/a> estimate that it will cost between $10,000 and $35,000 to follow your team right through.<\/p>\n Even the home supporters \u2013 including Donald Trump \u2013 feel it is far too costly, as indicated by the low sales reported by The Athletic for the USA\u2019s opening game in Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFifa overplayed their hand,\u201d one involved source says, \u201cand got the pricing wrong\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t pay it, either,\u201d Trump even said on Thursday<\/a>, as he added he would be \u201cdisappointed\u201d if his voters couldn\u2019t go. That must have been especially embarrassing for Infantino.<\/p>\n So much for the supposedly universal US \u201cculture\u201d of being willing to pay high prices for any major \u201centertainment event\u201d that Fifa apparently had to abide by.<\/p>\n Such arguments play into another schism, which points to how this World Cup may drastically influence football\u2019s future. That\u2019s the philosophical tension between the idea of football as a cultural good \u2013 most visible in the European model of sport and the UK football governance bill \u2013 and US consumerism, where it\u2019s just another commodity.<\/p>\n Fifa, officially a non-profit charity notionally safeguarding the game, have overwhelmingly come down on one side.<\/p>\n The ticket pricing \u2013 headlined by some final tickets listed on Fifa\u2019s resale site for over $1m<\/a> \u2013 is all the worse because of the awareness that everything else is going to cost so much. Even qualified teams are still concerned that they could lose money due to expenses.<\/p>\n Fifa couldn\u2019t have been aware of this, yet they have loaded the cost up anyway.<\/p>\n And while this might normally have been accepted as the price of a World Cup in an expensive country, many extra costs are direct consequences of Fifa deals.<\/p>\n A line by one insider speaks volumes. \u201cIt\u2019s a lesson in how to suck the joy out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Welcome to the great World Cup rip-off.<\/p>\n Tickets frame everything about this World Cup\u2019s expense, but how did Fifa actually come to this model\u2026 and why?<\/p>\n It is a huge departure from every previous tournament, with so many jaw-dropping numbers.<\/p>\n For the eventual finalists, most fans will pay a minimum of \u00a35,200 for tickets alone<\/a>. The initial controversy about such figures may now lead to the absurdity of family members sitting beside each other but paying thousands of pounds more due to one being fortunate enough to qualify for the token number of $60 Category 4 tickets<\/a> created after that outcry.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we still don\u2019t know where final seated categories will be,\u201d says the FSA\u2019s Thomas Concannon<\/a>, amid further criticism for how some tickets have had their positions moved. Football Supporters Europe quip that it\u2019s \u201cdynamic categorisation\u201d.<\/p>\n Some of those cheaper tickets for England-Croatia have still appeared on Fifa\u2019s official resale site for $2,300.<\/p>\n The issue of this \u201csecondary market\u201d \u2013 and how \u201ctouting\u201d is legal in the US \u2013 has admittedly created a unique challenge for this World Cup, but some of the responses are still baffling.<\/p>\n As well as cashing in on huge potential mark-ups, Fifa takes a 15 per cent \u201cresale facilitation fee\u201d and another 15 per cent from the seller.<\/p>\n The governing body\u2019s persistent line is that all revenue is ultimately redistributed around the game, primarily through the Fifa Forward programme.<\/p>\n Even if that were singularly true, and Fifa didn\u2019t also have a duty to make the game accessible, one source has an obvious response.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s see some transparency\u201d, show where the money actually goes.<\/p>\n A greater frustration is that Fifa, who are understood to have reserves of over $2.5bn, were going to make huge money anyway. Tickets were calculated at less than 50 per cent of total revenue, which was estimated to be a record $11bn \u2013 $4bn more than Qatar \u2013 from the original prices promised in the bid book back in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could easily chop $5bn off and everyone, including Fifa, benefits,\u201d says Moore, now the founding owner of the US club Santa Barbara Sky in California.<\/p>\n Weighing over all of this, however, is that Fifa\u2019s redistribution model has also served as a long-criticised vote-returning mechanism<\/a>. Infantino spreads the money around, and grateful associations elect him back in. And more money was the core part of his manifesto back in 2016. The last few weeks have already brought calls for the president\u2019s re-election from Conmebol and CAF, despite questions over term limits.<\/p>\n A similar lack of transparency surrounds how ticket pricing was decided upon. Some of the most senior Fifa figures have no clue. They maintain they were simply presented with plans from the president\u2019s office, which is how every major decision now works.<\/p>\n Sources with knowledge of the dynamics around Infantino say he is primarily surrounded by US-based advisers working \u201cto fully optimise revenue using all tools available\u201d.<\/p>\n There appears to be minimal interrogation of the actual merit of this.<\/p>\n That alone marks another significant departure for Fifa, especially from the last World Cup in the US.<\/p>\n Before 1994, tournament architect Alan Rothenberg had multiple ideas about tickets, which he details in The Big Bounce.<\/p>\n Rothenberg wanted \u201ca really high-priced ticket\u201d due to the associated prestige, as well as having every seat at the final priced at $1,000. In some echoes to now, too, he argued that \u201cthe street value would be at least that\u201d so touts shouldn\u2019t get the benefit.<\/p>\n \u201cFifa said no.\u201d<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n \u201cOverly concerned about average fans\u2019 reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n The difference to now is galling. And this was Joao Havelange\u2019s Fifa, notorious for creating a model of governance corruption that the modern Fifa now crow as having left behind.<\/p>\n \u201cThe simple question,\u201d Moore ponders, \u201cis who this World Cup is supposed to be for.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese are once-in-lifetime chances for fans,\u201d Concannon adds.<\/p>\n Fifa barely appear to have even acknowledged that, other than to consider what price can be put on it.<\/p>\n The US\u2019s \u201csecondary market\u201d might still have put an even greater price on it, of course, but it\u2019s like Fifa didn\u2019t even want to consider obvious workarounds. They could have apportioned more to qualified associations to distribute according to loyalty schemes, in the way fan culture generally works.<\/p>\n Rather than appreciating a ticket as something with that cultural value, though, Fifa has instead repositioned them as an appreciable asset.<\/p>\n Get more behind-the-scenes reporting from the World Cup \u2013 become a member of Miguel Delaney: Inside Football<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like marking up tickets for big concerts to sell,\u201d Moore says. \u201cBut that\u2019s not soccer.\u201d<\/p>\n One justification has been that the dynamic pricing model used for some categories will allow supporters cheap tickets closer to the game, but that doesn\u2019t help a fan who decided not to travel from Bogota or Berlin.<\/p>\n A further curiosity has been the contribution of another strand of \u201cfanatic\u201d. Any report on prices is met with bullish defences of \u201cthe market\u201d on social media, with even USA 94\u2019s Alexi Lalas contributing.<\/p>\n Academics put this down to how hardwired a capitalist\/consumerist ideology is \u2013 what Michael Sandel describes as the \u201cmarketisation\u201d and \u201cskyboxification\u201d of everything in American life.<\/p>\n \u201cEven professional sport in America first developed as an entertainment business product,\u201d explains Sean Hamil, an academic on sports governance at Birkbeck.<\/p>\n Jan Zglinski of the London School of Economics adds how \u201csport is primarily there to generate money\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Europe, sport is thought of as a public good, intended to foster social cohesion.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, the European model of sport as recognised in EU law.<\/p>\n Fifa essentially grew out of this thinking, which makes this shift all the more questionable.<\/p>\n For all Infantino\u2019s talk of having to adapt to US culture, Fifa didn\u2019t do that for any recent World Cup. Sources say that Qatar, despite all other justified criticisms<\/a>, actually resisted Fifa\u2019s attempts to apply similar pricing in 2022.<\/p>\n They obviously didn\u2019t do it for South Africa, or else more locals might have been able to actually attend.<\/p>\n But it is also a matter of law.<\/p>\n Fifa is legally registered as a not-for-profit charity in Switzerland.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of its statutes say to maximise profit for the benefit of shareholders,\u201d Hamil says. \u201cThey\u2019re to promote football.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main problem is that it is not behaving like a not-for-profit.\u201d<\/p>\n It has also fed into a host of other problems for supporters.<\/p>\n The ticket prices are all the more egregious because of Fifa\u2019s apparent lack of concern about how costly a US World Cup is. Even service charges are frequently mandatory at 30 per cent, and that is one of the minor expenses. Hotels have, of course, been hiked up, although that amid the irony that the huge overall cost has dampened demand, so prices have already dropped by 18 per cent. How couldn\u2019t they when just getting there is worse, especially with the refusal to properly cluster games?<\/p>\n England, as one example, have their group games as far apart as Dallas and Boston.<\/p>\n Many internal flights are almost as expensive as transatlantic journeys. And for one of the rare journeys where a train is possible, like New York-Philadelphia day trips, the cost is over $300.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n There\u2019s then the headline issue of local transport<\/a>. Getting to Foxboro\u2019s Gillette Stadium from Boston will cost $80 on a train, or $95 on a bus, with a round-trip ticket from New York Pennsylvania Station to Metlife up from $13 to $105 \u2013 and the latter only after sponsorship money brought the price back down from $150.<\/p>\n It was the latter mark-up that Fifa\u2019s chief operating officer for this World Cup, Heimo Schirgi, said would \u201chave a chilling effect\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n That must be one of the most brazen comments in sports administration. You only have to look at any revenue stream Fifa has control over, for one.<\/p>\n More pertinently, such prices are a direct consequence of an astonishing deal they have struck with the host cities.<\/p>\n Fifa takes almost all the revenue, right up to the parking money. The cities, meanwhile, pick up almost all of the costs, from security to additional infrastructure.<\/p>\n This is the price for the privilege of hosting: a collective hole of at least $250m.<\/p>\n The Independent has been told Fifa did realise that US cities didn\u2019t have access to the same funds as previous hosts, but didn\u2019t actually adapt. They instead devised the sop of the \u201ccity supporter programme\u201d \u2013 individual city sponsorship deals.<\/p>\n A problem, as reported by The Independent, is that none of those deals could cut across Fifa\u2019s own partnerships<\/a>. Huge cities were consequently left looking to local businesses.<\/p>\n Fifa\u2019s other line is that the World Cup will bring tourism, but most of their decisions have put people off. Involved sources say all current indications are that travel from abroad is going to be \u201cweak\u201d.<\/p>\n The train hike-ups, meanwhile, are described by insiders as \u201c100 per cent a consequence of this deal\u201d.<\/p>\n Fifa have responded stridently to any suggestion they should pick up the cost, saying they are \u201cnot aware of any other major event previously held at NYNJ Stadium\u2026 where organisers were required to pay for fan transportation\u201d.<\/p>\n But tournaments have routinely ensured ticket holders do not have to pay, mostly through deals with governments \u2013 including for Fifa\u2019s own 2006 World Cup in Germany.<\/p>\n The agreements for this World Cup were changed so a previous requirement for free transport instead read \u201cat cost\u201d. The fans now pay a greater cost.<\/p>\n Despite that, Fifa have shown no inclination to follow what Uefa did at Euro 2024 in Germany<\/a>, and part-subsidise travel.<\/p>\n Veteran officials feel this also stems from another first for a World Cup. Fifa did away with Local Organising Committees to take complete control.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody is there to tell them the local nuances,\u201d one source says.<\/p>\n Much has similarly been made of how US Soccer have been excluded, given they would have offered views more attuned to long-term legacy.<\/p>\n As it is, Fifa are dropping in, occupying every space right up to the car parks and pushing everything out along with the prices, to then make off with the revenue.<\/p>\n While Fifa have evidently changed, so has Infantino. Old Uefa colleagues say he used to be \u201cclassic European model of sport guy\u201d.<\/p>\n The Independent has written extensively about how the very position of Fifa president changes its incumbents<\/a>, but Infantino\u2019s own interpretation has taken that further. His will for Fifa to be the game\u2019s major player, rather than a regulator, has transformed outlooks.<\/p>\n It\u2019s why his Club World Cup might be hugely influential. Since 2018, and initial negotiations to expand the competition with Softbank, Infantino has been in regular dialogue with the billionaire ownership class that runs clubs.<\/p>\n They have a lot of their own ideas about ticket prices \u2013 and many actively want to \u201cskybox\u201d football.<\/p>\n This is who Infantino is listening to. It makes his own words at the recent Fifa Congress all the more conspicuous, as he enthused about how the US\u2019s commercialisation of sport is \u201creaching different levels\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can go to 500 billion global football GDP, half a trillion.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"When](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Low-ticket-sales-are-spooking-Infantino-and-Fifa-World-Cup-Fifa-Trump-USA-IndyComp.jpeg\")
When the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup, Fifa refused to hike up the prices of tickets because they were worried about upsetting supporters. In 2026, the governing body\u2019s strategy has flipped (The Independent\/Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2230636512.jpeg\")
The 2026 World Cup bid document said tickets to the final would cost a maximum of $1,550 (AFP via Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Gianni](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2222782302.jpeg\")
Gianni Infantino will run for re-election next year, aiming for another four-year term having promised record revenues (Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Fifa\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1448876843.jpeg\")
Fifa\u2019s strategy for World Cup tickets has been described as a \u2018lesson in how to suck the joy\u2019 from football (Getty)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2224326485.jpeg\")
The MetLife Stadium in New Jersey will host the 2026 World Cup final, but many fans of the finalists will simply be priced out (Getty)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2268220504.jpeg\")
The Independent reported that the 11 US World Cup host cities are facing a shortfall in what is described as \u2018the worst deal in Fifa World Cup history\u2019 (Getty for Coca-Cola)<\/p>\n![\"\u2018Who](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1443826383.jpeg\")
\u2018Who is this World Cup supposed to be for?\u2019: Under Gianni Infantino, Fifa\u2019s approach has leaned towards World Cup to the executive class (Getty)<\/p>\n
![\"Fans](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1449167667.jpeg\")
Fans are the source of so much colour and noise during a World Cup, the representation of a global game enjoyed by the masses (Getty)<\/p>\n