Going to North America '26: tickets, accommodations, etc. (non-politics)

Those prices could be the highest or average for group game. Or could be price of Mexico matches as they cannot dynamic price matches in Mexico

 

That’s one of the biggest false statements being pushed by the Mexican government. Mexico does have dynamic pricing. No one really believes they don’t.

 

I have a WhatsApp group for trusted fans to exchange tickets for face value only. DM me if interested including your location, name, WhatsApp #, and confirmation you don’t buy/sell/trade above FV. We'll want to help each other create as many accounts as possible for the lotteries.

 

I am surprised more people didn’t seem to pick up on the biggest news from that press conference last week: $6,730 for a Category 1 final ticket. As you know, that is $5,123 more than in 2022, which was already the most expensive in history. Since that was the only ticket price released for a specific match, I figure the other matches will have correspondingly unbelievable price jack ups.

So, the old tactics of how we all got tickets before probably don’t apply at all anymore.

Maybe some concert ticket buying experts can tell us what the best strategy is for this new world of dynamic pricing?

 

So I am wondering what dynamic pricing really means? I presume every category will have a base price and that is what the federation tickets will sell for... With dynamic pricing, I think federation tickets are good path to follow - maybe I'll look for Canada CSTs - after all they should make it to the QFs!

 

For CWC prices started at preset prices which varied by venue, teams involved, but very quickly started adapting up and down. Then at different dates they would add more tickets, so even though prices appear to be market, they restrict supply so prices are somewhat inflated until when all tickets released.

So would say as strategy be very cautious about buying tickets for tickets your not sure you'll want to use, because if you need to resale in fifa's resale market, fees (buyer AND seller together may be 40% or so) will likely be too high to recover what you paid. Would pay off in some cases to just wait and see closer to the games depending on what your circumstances are.

 

I didn't buy CWC tickets, but at other events in the past year, I noticed they started with very high prices and slowing started reducing them if they didn't sell. This reduced scalping, but penalized the biggest fans who bought early. I've definitely seen what appears to be holding back supply as well to give the appearance there are few tickets remaining, but then one day hundreds magically appear.

 

Multiple accounts haven't been an issue for any WC sales window and that isn't about to change now. This is just luck of the draw. Put in as many apps as possible to increase your odds of tickets. All the concerns expressed here over the years have proven unfounded.

 

Do we know if final tickets will be available on October 1?

 

If I apply to say 5 matches and get approved for all 5, do I have to buy all 5 or can I just buy two or three matches in October? I don’t see if in the FAQ?

 

Yes you can apply for the final beginning September 10th-19th. If approved, you will be given a time slot in October to purchase those tickets.

 

from my understanding, you do a general application and if you get assigned a timeslot you go in and can buy whatever is available

 

Just to get an idea how different things will be this time.

World Cup final Category 1 ticket price:

Brazil 2014: $990
Russia 2018: $1,100
Qatar 2022: $1,607
USA 2026: $6,730

With the already outrageously high summer hotel prices in New York, I think I may have to skip the final this time. I am happy that I had the chance to go to World Cup final matches in the past, but I am not paying $14,000 just for tickets for my spouse and me, which will probably be crappy seats, since the best ones go to sponsors, federations, and hospitality anyway. Maybe just scale back to a few group stage matches at home. At $300-$500 per ticket, or more, that will already cost a few thousand $ for the two of us.

 

Just like the touts do.

 

This my experience with Ticketmaster concert ticketing. They only release a fraction of the tickets but show the remainder are unavailable. They drive up the price by making early buyers believe few tickets remain. Then, as the concert approaches, the release additional blocks and adjust the pricing to demand. Recently I had bought 4 Neil Young tickets in Toronto at $330 each - well in advance of the concert. Starting 1 month before I realized I only needed 2 tickets and tried to resell the other 2, but there were no takers because Neil Young added a 2nd concert and Ticketmaster released more blocks of tickets that were better seats than mine at a similar price. This system is truly manipulative and unfair. If this is what FIFA is thinking of doing, I will stay home in Toronto and not travel to the US or Mexico - not worth the effort and headaches of buying and reselling tickets to suit travel limitations etc.

 

So to sum things up, I don't so much mind dynamic pricing provided most tickets are available from the get go, thus benefiting the early bird. But if FIFA is going to trickle release seats as they normally do across many phases, AND they are going to use dynamic pricing under false pretenses that demand is outstripping supply, they can go pound dirt. I'm not playing that game. My sofa is very comfortable, my TV is quite large, and the beer and hotdogs are very low cost. Basically I just decided to not fly anywhere for this World Cup - will get some tickets for Toronto matches when reasonably priced, and watch the rest on TV. At BMO Field, there are no bad seats, which makes this approach easier than in some of those large stadiums where one could end up paying big $ for nose bleeds...

 

I am thinking the same now. You know FIFA will just drip the tickets out to keep that dynamic pricing high. People who buy early will probably get screwed the most.

 

with prices as announced ... for sure

 

QFs?

 

that's not how it works. You're applying for a lottery ticket granting access inside the store. If you win the lottery; you'll login. Get shocked by the prices and decide to logoff!

 

They tested this monstrosity during CWC. Each match was uniquely priced in 3 separate categories. Club supporter tickets had a base price for each club. I think they'll have something similar. A Morocco supporter ticket will be priced less than an England. Also, as an example: M39 in LA will be priced higher Than M40 in Vancouver - both Sunday matches.

Initial prices will be on the high end. They'll adjust as sales happen. Early lottery winners will see shocking pricing. Some matches will fly off the shelf; Mexico, M1 and the Final. FIFA may decide to lower prices later in the phase to test pricing for matches they know will be low demand.

 

No. You apply for a chance to get a slot. Not for tickets.

You may end up being right by chance, but it is simplistic to just assume that it will be the same. The process is completely different and for this phase there is absolutely 0 benefit to FIFA and instead only potential for detriment to them to allow unlimited applications. For phases that require payment information prior to draw as a “commit to purchase”, then they benefit from that.

 

One thing to note here is its 8% of sellable tickets, not 8% of total tickets. So for M3 for example, if BMO holds 42k, back out the 10-15% that get held by FIFA for sponsors etc and then start from there. My guess would be ~3k tickets available through the CSA for that match. And then of course for those you need to also have the CanadaRED membership, and with the current numbers for that you likely need to outlay $500+ up front to have a decent chance to win the lottery to buy tickets for a match.

I would be extremely surprised if the tickets are subject to dynamic pricing, but they will be very difficult to get, at least for Canada. I am hoping some of the traditional suspects though (Portugal etc) will be an avenue for tickets.

 

two questions . . . .

1) so with the dynamic pricing, are some of you guys are waiting out this first phase to see those prices for higher demand games/cities (and assuming they are the worse seats in the categories), or are you entering and picking the higher demand games to just get a ticket or two and start planning ur trip . . . .

2) it seems a few people mentioned the games in Monterrey/Guadalajara and Vancouver being more expensive than Mexico city and Toronto . . . . is there a reason for this ?

 

How is allowing more applications a detriment to FIFA? Allowing more accounts, would increase their chances of selling out the full allotment of tickets in the phase. And also allow them to profit off of resales of these same tickets later.