The attorneys general of New York and New Jersey announced an investigation into FIFA’s ticket sales practices ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Letitia James of New York and Jennifer Davenport of New Jersey said in a press release that the investigation will examine “a number of issues that have arisen with FIFA’s ticket sales process,” citing reports alleging exorbitant ticket costs, fans being misled about their seat locations, and staggered ticket sales to create an inflated demand that allowed FIFA to increase prices.
“New Yorkers have been waiting years for the World Cup to come to their backyard, and they deserve a fair chance to get affordable tickets,” James said in a statement.
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A chance to watch the final match on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey could cost fans almost $33,000, with seats on the resale market going for as much as $2 million.
How did the World Cup get so expensive?
The 2026 World Cup is not unique just because it is the first to be spread across 16 cities in three countries. The US — with its 11 cities hosting 78 of the event’s 104 matches — also has a loose regulatory framework that has allowed FIFA to use dynamic pricing in its ticket sales for the first time.
This pricing model uses an automated system to algorithmically adjust ticket prices based on demand, a common practice at U.S. sporting and entertainment events.
While it may allow some fans to purchase cheap tickets last minute if there are still empty seats available, dynamic pricing often means more expensive tickets.
Dynamic pricing exploded across sports when the San Francisco Giants pioneered the practice in 2009, leading the rest of MLB, the NHL and the NBA to follow suit a few years later.
The Giants used an algorithm created by pricing company Qcue, which used 20 variables to determine the cost of some tickets, with a starting range of US$7 (R$36) to US$30 (R$154) that moved in 50-cent increments depending on demand.
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NFL and MLB ticket prices have risen by an average of about 300% between 1991 and 2023, according to the Fan Cost Index.
Sports ticket costs rose more than twice as fast as consumer inflation between 2000 and 2019, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Meanwhile, pre-sale tickets for this year’s NBA Finals ranged from US$2,000 to US$6,000, with resale tickets selling for up to US$85,000.
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Now add dynamic pricing to the world’s biggest sports party. According to an analysis by Athletic, FIFA’s three main ticket categories saw an average price increase of 34% from October to April, with the sporting body increasing costs in October, December and April, each by around 10% to 20%.
This translated into jaw-dropping average ticket prices, ranging from US$380 (R$1,955) to US$4,105 (R$21,000) for the first games of the event’s group stage and rising from US$13,000 (R$67,000) for the final, leading President Donald Trump to admit: “I wouldn’t pay it either, to be honest.”
Of course, the World Cup has always been an expensive event, although past ticket prices pale in comparison to this year’s prices.
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In 2022, when the games were hosted in Qatar, the most expensive general sale tickets for the final match cost 5,850 Qatari riyals, or US$1,607 (R$8,269), a 46% increase over the US$1,100 (R$5,660) price for the equivalent match in 2018.
Qatar residents were able to purchase tickets for just 40 Qatari riyals, or US$11 (R$57), for the group stage matches.
But the outcry over 2026 ticket costs isn’t just about the list price shock, according to economists and tourism experts.
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Seats in the five-figure range — plus high travel costs — risk alienating fans, paving the way for the rich to buy up all the tickets.
It’s not just an unfortunate truth for fans who are being priced out of watching their favorite teams, experts said; it risks making the entire World Cup business unsustainable.
“It’s a real concern that you could have a world where stadiums — instead of being filled with vibrant, excited fans — are filled with rich people on their cell phones taking selfies for their influencer accounts,” Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross, told Fortune.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino defended the high ticket costs, suggesting that the high prices were the result of “market rates” in the US, which has a developed entertainment economy, and that Americans are used to shelling out a lot for events.
Even so, FIFA made some US$60 (R$309) tickets available for all matches in the tournament, after the mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, secured 1,000 tickets costing US$50 (R$257) each for city residents.
Like Matheson, Florida State University sports management professor Mark DiDonato believes the high cost of attending live sports will lead to a transformation of the industry more broadly, or a “corporatization of the sports space.”
“You’re getting a lot more people in the C-suite who can afford these tickets and who are going to the games,” he told Fortune. “And I think we’re going to see a difference in terms of fans or the environment based on that.”
FIFA did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Sustainability of soaring costs
While sky-high ticket prices may exclude fans from attending the World Cup, the free market can also work in the other direction.
As of last month, resale ticket costs were already falling. TicketData founder Keith Pagello told NBC News that the drop in prices was the result of insufficient purchasing activity in the high-price range.
In fact, early signs show that FIFA may have overestimated the projected economic gain of US$30.5 billion (R$157 billion) from the World Cup.
A recent report from the American Hotel and Lodging Association found that of more than 200 hotels in 11 U.S. host cities, nearly 80% reported bookings below initial forecasts. U.S. hotels have begun cutting room rates to match weaker demand.
FIFA has already sold 5 million World Cup tickets and will see a return on investment, Matheson predicted, but the success of its pricing model is yet to be confirmed and could present a “long-term concern”.
“Can you really become a beloved sport if kids can’t get there because their parents can’t afford to take them to a series of games? [Quando] people don’t have the chance to casually go to games and you essentially exclude your clientele because of the price, eventually that means you won’t have fans at all.”
On the other hand, he added, that’s what dynamic pricing is for. Prices skyrocket when there is high demand, but when interest in games wanes, prices are expected to drop.
“It wouldn’t be dynamic pricing if FIFA weren’t taking into account what will ultimately happen to ticket sales in the United States the next time they host this event in Spain, Portugal and Morocco,” Matheson said.
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