How sky-high ticket prices, war & politics could impact the World Cup
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What are the key factors impacting ticket prices for the World Cup?
On June 11th, the globe's biggest sporting event comes to North America, the FIFA World Cup. The Super Bowl, you might say, averages something over 100 million live viewers, but the World Cup final, I think like five times that much. The favorites, the underdogs, and the Americanization of the world's game. Listen now to the Sunday story from the Up First podcast on the NPR app.
This is Fresh Air. I'm Dave Davies. The FIFA World Cup opens this week with soccer matches in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. With 48 teams in 104 matches, this will be the biggest World Cup ever. Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, the international federation that runs the tournament, has declared that this will be the greatest event that humanity, mankind, has ever seen and ever will see. So, yes, there's plenty of excitement.
How are political issues affecting travel to the World Cup?
More than 5 million tickets have been sold to international travelers alone. But this is also a season of some discontent surrounding the Cup. Aside from logistical challenges like transportation, there are issues arising from war, politics, infectious disease, and, according to many, greed. FIFA's ticketing practices and pricing have outraged many fans and prompted investigations by two state attorneys general. U.S. immigration restrictions and the war with Iran have affected travel from many countries, and the Ebola outbreak has the attention of local and international health officials. And just to keep things interesting this week, there's the NBA finals and another one-of-a-kind sports event coming up on Sunday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship on the White House lawn.
To talk about all this, we've invited Laura Williamson, editor-in-chief of The Athletic, to join us. The Athletic is the subscription-based sports journalism site of The New York Times. Before joining The Athletic, Laura Williamson was sports news editor and a correspondent at The Daily Mail.
What challenges do fans face regarding ticketing for the World Cup?
She joined us from London, where she is based. We recorded our conversation yesterday. Laura Williamson, welcome to Fresh Air.
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
You know, we'll be talking about some issues and controversies surrounding the World Cup. But to begin with, I just want to take note of the enormous pleasure and joy that this brings to many hundreds of millions of people around the world. Just share with us, you know, what the World Cup can be at its best.
Sure.
Yeah, I mean, when I think about my experience of World Cups as a kid and then being lucky enough to be in Qatar four years ago and to cover that tournament, you might not remember the score, you might not remember who scored, but you remember where you were and who you watched it with and what it meant to you at that time.
What is the impact of dynamic pricing on World Cup tickets?
And I think it's that power that actually sport can have and football, soccer in particular, can have to bring people together, that sort of connective tissue, if you like. So that's the hope that that's what this tournament can do without sounding sort of too sentimental about things. But I really do believe that football in particular has the power to do that.
Is there a heart stopping play or moment that sticks in your mind when you think about the World Cup?
I do think back to that final three and a half years ago in Qatar, France and Argentina, and it going right down to the wire in terms of penalties. And watching Lionel Messi lift the World Cup trophy was just an incredible moment. When you think of his career, and it's obviously still going, he'll be there this time around as well. But it's so rare that you get an incredible game to match the occasion, and that delivered on all fronts.
All right. Well, so let's talk about some of the issues here.
How does the Ebola outbreak influence the World Cup experience?
Ticket prices at this World Cup are higher than any World Cup ever, in part because FIFA, which runs this thing, is using dynamic pricing, right?
Yes. Yes. The first time it's ever been used.
Yeah. So what does that mean for fans?
It means ticket prices go, I was going to say up and down, but actually they just go up at the moment, depending on scarcity and depending on the demand for those tickets.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the key factors impacting ticket prices for the World Cup?
0:00–0:52
2
How are political issues affecting travel to the World Cup?
0:52–1:56
3
What challenges do fans face regarding ticketing for the World Cup?
1:56–2:41
4
What is the impact of dynamic pricing on World Cup tickets?
2:41–3:39
5
How does the Ebola outbreak influence the World Cup experience?
3:39–4:20
6
What security measures are being implemented for the World Cup?
4:20–5:25
7
How does the U.S. political climate affect the World Cup?
5:25–6:19
8
What is the significance of President Trump's involvement in sports events?
6:19–47:18
Speakers
6 identifiedMore from Fresh Air
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