World Cup ticket demand has “held up on resale platforms,” with prices “staying steady and some cases increasing” following the first week of matches, according to Hannah Miller of BLOOMBERG NEWS. Stadiums are “close to full,” and prices for the most exciting early games “have hit highs of over $4,000.” Early on, in the days leading up to the tournament and in some of the first games, there were reports of empty seats in stadiums and tickets still available on FIFA’s official site. That “suggested fans were rebelling against high prices for tickets, or transportation.” But despite negative press, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kevin Near mentioned that premium demand “is strong and tickets [are] scarce.” He added that is “helping primary sales,” though resales “should heat up as the tournament progresses.” Miller notes FIFA has also been “pushing its own resale platform,” which “may make it harder for fans to secure something affordable,” as it takes a 15% transaction fee from the buyer and seller. S&P Global analyst Michael Johnson noted that there has also been speculation that FIFA has “been shifting unsold tickets to secondary marketplaces” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 6/19).
FOUL CALLED: The AP’s Rico & Megnien write the World Cup has “delivered thrills” on the pitch, but fans “have flooded social media with complaints about tickets that never arrived, orders that were canceled at the last minute and hours they spent trying to sort out problems between FIFA’s ticketing system and outside resale platforms.” The vast majority of complaints “seem to be about industry titan StubHub,” but people who bought through competitors such as SeatGeek and Vivid Seats “have also reported issues.” Interviews with fans and industry experts show that some cases “stem from technical glitches in the transfer process,” while others “could involve sellers who never had tickets to deliver in the first place, though StubHub denies such sales happen on its platform” (AP, 6/19).
CALLING ON CONGRESS: The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Ethan Millman wrote the National Independent Venue Association is “making a push to federal lawmakers get so-called ‘speculative tickets’ banned,” citing reports from fans “getting turned away at games after buying tickets they couldn’t actually receive.” In a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), NIVA detailed local news reports and testimonials from several fans who tried attending games across the country since the World Cup started last week, only to “be told before the event that their tickets couldn’t be delivered” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 6/18).
