Costly tickets, corruption, corporate wealth

The World Cup soccer tournament has finally arrived in North Texas. 

There is a lot of excitement among the media and fans. When it was first announced several years ago, I was also excited. I thought with matches at AT&T Stadium and no travel or hotel expenses, it would be an affordable experience. NOT!

When I checked the price of tickets for England v. Croatia, the price was $2,500 for two tickets. Not exactly inexpensive. These were the cheap seats. They went up to several thousands of dollars from there. In Kansas City, the price to see Messi play was $5,000 for two. The price to see Argentina v. Algeria in Arlington were the same.

Recently, it was reported that five million fans had attended the games. That’s like 50 Super Bowls.

FIFA, the entity that organizes the World Cup, has history of corruption. A Netflix series called “FIFA Uncovered” details the 2015 arrests of 14 FIFA executives for corruption. Eventually, three were banned for life and one pleaded guilty.

What was uncovered were alleged bribes that allowed Qatar to hold a World Cup. The series covered the human cost in Qatar, with a reported 6,500 deaths to build the stadiums and infrastructure in Qatar.

There are ongoing investigations by attorneys general in various states over ticket prices and FIFA’s iron-fisted control over the ticket process for the 2026 World Cup.

Another strange FIFA requirement was that no stadium corporate names could be mentioned, so AT&T Stadium had to be called “Dallas Stadium” even though it is in Arlington and Tarrant County. 

There is an enormous amount of money involved. There is a lot of good impact on local economies and a really good interchange of cultures. Japanese fans went crazy over Texas barbecue. The Scots drank all the beer in Boston.

We Americans have a hard time imagining the scale of the fan base globally. Six billion fans will watch the World Cup final. One hundred twenty-five million watched the Super Bowl this past February. That means 48 times as many people will watch the World Cup final than our Super Bowl.

With the massive global fan base, there is a tremendous amount of money, which always attracts potential corruption. And when it isn’t corrupt, there is enormous corporate wealth.

I’ve learned that there is little we can do about a few people becoming so wealthy and powerful in so many areas.  So, I accept things for what they are, enjoy the games, and root for the USA!