Juan Velosa was unsure if he would be able to complete a lifelong dream of attending a FIFA World Cup match.
The 30-year-old Baltimore, Maryland, resident recalled seeing prices earlier this year for his national team, Colombia, to play in the soccer tournament listed in the thousands of dollars per ticket. After going through a career change, Velosa knew he couldn’t stretch his funds too far.
“I just knew it was going to be impossible,” he told 草莓传媒. “I expected most matches to be upward of like $400-500.”
Fast-forward to May: Velosa checked FIFA’s resale platform and saw lower ticket prices for lesser-known group stage matches. He decided that it was more important to be at the World Cup regardless of the teams playing.
“This is one once in a lifetime opportunity to go to a dream event like this,” Velosa said. “I’ve never had a World Cup this close to me.”
Fans from all over the world have reportedly spent thousands of dollars to attend this year’s tournament, which is being staged in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. According to one business professor, FIFA’s approach to ticket pricing for the World Cup will continue through other forms of entertainment going forward.
“To me, it’s an accelerant,” University of Maryland Professor Henry “Hank” Boyd III told 草莓传媒. “It’s saying it was already there, and now we’re capturing it, and this is going to be our new normal.”
‘This will do’
This year, Velosa transitioned from 10 years in supply chain and logistics to becoming a social media content creator. Before making the transition, he saved up some money for the World Cup while starting his new venture.
Before tickets went on sale, FIFA announced it would use dynamic pricing for the World Cup for the first time. The pricing structure allows ticket prices to fluctuate depending on demand. It is a similar pricing structure used in the U.S. for most live entertainment events, including concerts and sports, with World Cup tickets starting at $60.
However, as requests came in from around the world, prices rose immensely, with fans saying they paid thousands. Colombia traditionally has strong travel support, leading to its group stage match tickets being among the most expensive, even before travel costs to Mexico or Miami are included.
“When you have half a billion requests for tickets, and you only have 6.5 million seats, it’s inevitable,” Boyd said. “Prices are going to just go up accordingly.”
Despite his desire to see his native country play in the World Cup, Velosa ultimately chose to buy tickets to the Group E matchup between tournament debutants Cura莽ao and African side Ivory Coast in Philadelphia. It cost him around $270, and to save costs, he will attend the game by himself, with his partner Emily driving him to the stadium.
“It’s not perfect, like seeing your team, or seeing one of the knockout rounds,鈥� he said. “But this will do, and I’m just super excited about that.”
Velosa’s decision to go with a lower-priced game is an outlier, Boyd said. Most attendees tap into their discretionary funds to pay for experiences like vacations and sporting events. For most fans, seeing their team in the World Cup is a “golden moment” and is worth paying more for.
“He’s saying, ‘Look, I want to be part of it, I want to be there, but I’m not going to lose my mind, I’m not going to go crazy about this, and it’ll be something that I can at least sleep with it at the end of the day, saying, I think I did the right thing.'”
Dynamic pricing here to stay?
Despite the pushback, Boyd said dynamic pricing in sports is in full effect, and FIFA’s use of it is an expansion of it. Despite some empty seats, most stands at the U.S.-based group stage matches have been full, with diehard fans paying whatever it takes to get in.
“You would think people would be logical and rational, like why would you shell out so much money for just one event, but sports is something unique,” Boyd said. “It’s not just a simple product, it’s more or less a unique experience, and so when we look at it from that lens, it starts to make sense.”
There has been some pushback against FIFA’s decision to adopt dynamic pricing. Before the tournament began, President Donald Trump he wouldn’t pay for $1,000 tickets, calling it “disappointing” if people from Queens and Brooklyn couldn’t go. The World Cup’s sky-high prices, along with its sales tactics for seat location, led to the attorneys general in New York and New Jersey subpoenaing FIFA over its pricing models.
However, the reality, Boyd said, is that once an organization or industry sees how much money can be gained by using supply and demand in its pricing, it’s hard to leave money on the table.
“This is where it’s going to be going forward, where you’re extracting out that last bit of, I guess you might want to call, consumer surplus that’s out there in the marketplace,” Boyd said. “That’s just the nature of the game.”
Boyd said that while the trend continues to grow in sports, only some music artists may be able to maximize their revenues by using dynamic pricing. This year, some artists canceled their tours after poor ticket sales due to high ticket prices, a phenomenon known as “blue dot fever.”
He would advise most fans to be sensible with their purchases and, if they really want to attend the event, take a nosebleed seat they can afford. However, Boyd said he understands some fans will want the best location at the most affordable price, while entities such as FIFA are looking to maximize profits. That balance will be key going forward.
“The makeup of the crowd will be big money down with great seats and way up in the nosebleed, maybe the diehard fans that have always been with the club, but they can afford to at least be in the space,” Boyd said. “That may be where we’re headed.”
As for Velosa, his focus now is to enjoy the tournament. His social media post announcing his decision to attend Cura莽ao vs. Ivory Coast received positive feedback from fans of both nations, welcoming him to the match, and from other soccer fans facing the same financial situations.
He still plans to root for Colombia from home, looking for watch parties in the D.C. area to root on Los Cafeteros alongside other Colombian supporters.
“If you can’t really see your team, then there are these other options where you can still say that you went to a World Cup and experience that for yourself,” Velosa said.
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