EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — If you sought tickets to the USA World Cup opening game against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium (it will be called Los Angeles Stadium during the World Cup) in June, ticket prices would range from $1,940 to $3,420. And if those prices seem excessive, keep in mind that prices for World Cup tickets, for the most part, have slowly been tumbling down.
The sky-high ticket prices for the world’s biggest sports tournament have been just one controversy surrounding FIFA.
On Wednesday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent the organization a letter raising concerns about reports of potentially misleading ticket practices related to the 2026 World Cup, which is being hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
According to Bonta’s office, the requested information would investigate potential violations of California law, including strict prohibitions on marketing practices that are likely to mislead consumers. Bonta’s move follows reports that FIFA sold tickets based on seating categories displayed on stadium maps and later altered those seating categorizations before assigning precise seat locations.
“Californians deserve transparency and fairness when purchasing tickets for any event held in our state,” said Bonta in a statement. “Californians should be able to trust that the seats they purchase match the representations made during the sales process. We look forward to receiving the requested information from FIFA as part of our ongoing review.”
According to FIFA, it has already sold millions of tickets to the World Cup. When buyers logged on to purchase tickets, they were given four categories, each category corresponding to a range of sections at each stadium. Those sections were color-coded maps in the ticketing portal, ranging in a wide variety of prices.
Last month, The Athletic reported how FIFA has altered those maps from one sale phase to the next, then assigning a minority of ticket buyers a seat that, in an earlier phase, had belonged to a different category.
Information requested by AG Bonta includes:
Information about ticket sales for the World Cup games
How seating categories were represented, whether seat assignments differed from those representations
What disclosures were provided to buyers
How many issues were addressed through refunds or other remedies
Besides Los Angeles, Levi’s Stadium in the Bay Area will also host World Cup matches.
Californians who believe they were misled can file a complaint at oag.ca.gov/report.
Spectrum News reached out to FIFA for comment, but the organization has not yet responded.