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World Cup soccer comes to the U.S. next year, and ticket sales kick off this month. Fans want to be in the stands, and FIFA, the sport's worldwide governing organization, wants them to pay a lot more than in previous years, or even more than that depending on demand. NPR's Rafael Nam talked to some sticker-shocked footie fans.
RAFAEL NAM, BYLINE: Mike Trucano from Virginia could barely contain himself when he heard the World Cup would be in the U.S. next year.
MIKE TRUCANO: I mean, so excited, so excited.
NAM: Trucano is sort of obsessed with the tournament. He's been to eight so far, including in South Africa in 2010, when he got to see Landon Donovan score one of the most famous goals in U.S. history. Here's the ABC broadcaster.
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UNIDENTIFIED BROADCASTER: Landon Donovan. There are things going here for the USA. Can they do it here? Cross - and Dempsey's denied again. And Donovan has scored. Oh, can you believe this? Go, go. USA.
NAM: That goal was scored against Algeria in the dying minutes of the game, and it clinched a spot in the playoffs for the U.S. Trucano still remembers the reaction in the stadium.
TRUCANO: Some random woman who I'd never seen before kissed me, and I was standing next to some guy in astronaut's helmet.
NAM: It's not just awesome goals or people in astronaut helmets. Fans like Trucano got to travel to far-off places like Brazil or Japan. Tickets were not cheap, but they were affordable. And in the coming year, the tournament will be in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Trucano planned to take his wife, his two kids, his dad in his 80s. That's before he found out about the prices. For the first U.S. game, for example, tickets start at over $1,000. And many of the seats cost nearly 3,000, nearly double the price of the last World Cup final in Qatar.
TRUCANO: I mean, my word, if it's five of us and it's $1,000 and $5,000, in this economy - in a great economy, that's a no-go, let alone the economy we have right now.
NAM: World Cup ticket prices used to be consistent. But this time, they are all over the place, and FIFA is also introducing dynamic pricing, meaning they can change at any time, depending on demand.
JIM WAIAN: To me, this is madness. It's absolute madness.
NAM: That's Jim Waian in California. He's been to seven World Cups. He has many fond memories. He was at the finals in 1998 when France beat Brazil in Paris, and everybody was singing "La Marseilles." But for the final next year in the U.S., many of the seats are way over $6,000.
WAIAN: We could pay 6,730 to go to the final. And we're pretty big fans, my wife and I, but, you know, that's just too much.
NAM: FIFA is also doing a lot of, well, let's say, unusual things, like offering the right to buy a ticket for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Fans are essentially paying for a spot in the line because that does not include the price of the ticket.
WAIAN: Everything they've done so far seems to be just concerned about maximizing profit and nothing, absolutely nothing else.
NAM: In a statement to NPR, FIFA says they are adapting to industry trends. Watching sports in the U.S. is expensive. For comparison, the average NFL ticket price was just under $300 when the season started. And FIFA says it will reinvest the vast majority of the revenue back into its member associations all over the world for the good of soccer. Fans like Trucano are skeptical.
TRUCANO: Their job is to grow the game and to have people love the sport. And sure, they need to make money to keep all this going, but to see the U.S. consumer as just big, fat wallets that they can take as much money out of as they can, I don't think that does anybody any good.
NAM: And this is an irony of sorts. Fans like Waian and Trucano traveled all over the world for the World Cup. Turns out the one that's finally in the U.S. may be the one they have to watch from home. Rafael Nam, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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