The biggest World Cup in history is in exactly one month, but “bigger might not necessarily be better, judging by the furor over ticket prices, match assignments, visas, hotels, transportation and pretty much everything else associated with FIFA’s grand extravaganza,” according to Mark Zeigler of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. There is a “lack of palpable buzz despite fond memories” of the last time the U.S. hosted in 1994. There was a “certain innocence and novelty to the World Cup’s first foray in an unconquered land, a coming-of-age moment for the nation and its newfound respect for jogo bonito.” Three decades later, there is a “certain skepticism and cynicism for FIFA’s greedy underbelly.” Zeigler: “Who’s coming? ... Certainly not as many as expected.” Ticket prices are “one culprit.” The hotels are not “helping themselves with exorbitant rates, some asking as much as $1,000 per night for a room that normally is $200.” Then there are the “high air fares driven by elevated oil prices, and issues getting U.S. travel visas from some countries, and geopolitical concerns, and don’t forget the local price gouging” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 5/10). AFP’s Rob Woollard wrote a “turbulent build-up has meant the 23rd edition of the World Cup risks feeling like a morning-after headache before the party has even started, with a potent cocktail of affordability concerns, politics and conflict already souring the mood” (AFP, 5/10).
TRAVEL PLANS: In N.Y., Victor Mather wrote European leagues wrapping up their schedules, training camps popping up across North America and warm-up matches will “whet fans’ appetite for international soccer action” in the month before the World Cup starts. The Bundesliga ends on May 16; Ligue 1 the next day; and the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A finish up May 24. Some players will be “heading virtually straight from their final club match to their national team camps without a break.” To get “reacquainted with their teammates and shore up team tactics, the players will head to the base camps in North America where they will live and train leading up to and during the tournament” (N.Y. TIMES, 5/8).
DEBUT PATCH: THE ATHLETIC’s Greg O’Keeffe noted players making their first appearance at the World Cup will wear a “unique badge, which will later be authenticated, signed and eventually added to a packet of trading cards.” Players like France MF Desire Doue, Spain RW Lamine Yamal and the U.S. S Ricardo Pepi, if selected for their national teams, would take to the field for their first game with the “new ‘debut patch’ feature on their match kits.” Based on a trend in MLB, the debut patches are being introduced as “part of FIFA’s forthcoming licensing deal with Fanatics.” The long-term agreement with Fanatics, which replaces FIFA’s partnership with Panini, does not begin until 2031, but this month, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said that the patches “will still be worn this summer” (THE ATHLETIC, 5/9).
GRASS IS GREENER: CBSSPORTS.com’s Pardeep Cattry noted the installation process for the grass pitch at MetLife Stadium, which will host eight World Cup games, including the July 19 final, began on Wednesday and will “stretch out for a few weeks with the plan of being perfectly playable” when Brazil and Morocco open Group C play on June 13. Roughly “20 truckloads of Tahoma 31 bermudagrass had finally made the journey from Carolina Green Turf Farm” outside of Charlotte to suburban N.Y., “roughly 10 months after the growth process began.” The team overseeing MetLife Stadium’s pitch “officially got to work around 5 p.m. on Wednesday and worked until 2 a.m. to lay out the grass, resuming work at 11 a.m. on Thursday to finish the initial part of the installation process.” FIFA Senior Pitch Manager David Graham on Thursday said that the project was “on schedule and is underway in just about every U.S. World Cup venue” (CBSSPORTS.com, 5/8).
