Absolutely absurd. Parking costs more than World Cup tickets in 2022.

I think a lot of people in hospitality have figured out by now that this is going to be the biggest bust they have seen in a long time.

The smart ones saw it coming and just treated it like anything else. The not so smart ones spent lots of money in preparations thinking they would recoup that this summer. It clearly isn't happening at this point.

I bet the specific areas miss their initial forecasts by 70%.

agsalaska said:

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I think a lot of people in hospitality have figured out by now that this is going to be the biggest bust they have seen in a long time.

The smart ones saw it coming and just treated it like anything else. The not so smart ones spent lots of money in preparations thinking they would recoup that this summer. It clearly isn't happening at this point.

I bet the specific areas miss their initial forecasts by 70%.

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Yup. FIFA has ****ed this football harder than a puppy with 2 peters.

I hate FIFA but I think it's about 20% them and 80% geopolitics (war in Iran having severe impact on energy/travel + the way our European allies feel like they are being treated by the US + the way LatAm feels like they are being treated by US).

Regardless of FIFA bungling, it seems like geopolitical issues have cut off hundreds of thousands of potential visitors from the two biggest soccer continents and killed potential demand.

Yall are describing two different things - one is probably a real issue and the other probably isn't.

Gobs of tickets have sold at high prices and demand is still high on resale markets. Period. It's not a problem for FIFA at all. They've got their money and the plan worked.

But yeah, hotels, restaurants, etc who were expecting a windfall from this probably won't see it.

I suspect a good amount of folks (who don't understand oil markets) are holding out hope that the war will end, flight prices will drop, and they can actually come. But they won't be able to… and I suspect we'll see a glut of tickets into the secondary market as the games begin. Just my guess.

deadbq03 said:

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Yall are describing two different things - one is probably a real issue and the other probably isn't.

Gobs of tickets have sold at high prices and demand is still high on resale markets. Period. It's not a problem for FIFA at all. They've got their money and the plan worked.

But yeah, hotels, restaurants, etc who were expecting a windfall from this probably won't see it.

I suspect a good amount of folks (who don't understand oil markets) are holding out hope that the war will end, flight prices will drop, and they can actually come. But they won't be able to… and I suspect we'll see a glut of tickets into the secondary market as the games begin. Just my guess.

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Yeah, I probably wasn't clear in my post. I don't really disagree on ticket pricing being a mess for some matches. If FIFA overreached then the resale market will expose that (as you see with Saudi Arabia match in Houston).

My point is that general interest as an international/global event (as measured by hotel demand) is really being impacted and keeping international visitors away. The weak hotel picture is much more about that IMO. Lower ticket prices from FIFA would def help ensure 100% capacity attendance because local and regional fans can snap up all the tickets, but they don't fully solve the host-city travel economy problem.

Yeah and I'll clarify mine further too. I think stadiums will look half empty, but >90% tickets will have been sold at high prices.

People aren't going to travel. And a lot of the supporters-group tickets aren't going to be able to be resold. Some won't come because they simply won't be able to afford it. But others won't come because they don't want to support our economy after the Iran mess. It'll be interesting to see if Mexico and Canada see better travel numbers.

I agree with the international travel aspect. I think loads of people, even if they have the means of paying for flights/hotels/tickets won't because the US held in such low international regard right now among the general population.

JJWAGGIE said:

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you've also got to place some blame on the hotels themselves… my daughter has playoffs with her club in Arlington during the same time as the games, and your standard Courtyard Marriott off the highway is going for absurd prices, even for the group stage… reaching over $800 a night for the final match. With those rates, people tend to find alternatives or pass altogether.

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Except that they are not actually selling any rooms. They are just holding out hope at this point.

Neither Qatar nor Russia (at the time) impacted peoples livelihood. It's easy to wag a finger at human rights issues that don't impact your life, but ultimately people like soccer more.

This time is different because the Iran mess made prices on gas (and therefore lots of other things) jump. And Americans are shielded from most of the impact, so we're doubly vilified.

Add to that, supporters groups were already pissed because FIFA was trying to gouge them in price - so I expect a lot more people, even many with tickets in hand - to say F FIFA and F the US, I'm not going.

I don't think that has a lot to do with it. It has more to do with ticket pricing, tournament structure, number of teams, and distance from games. And size of stadiums, especially in opening rounds.

For those who are going to travel anyway, you're absolutely right. If they would normally get group tickets at previous WCs, now it's gonna cost them tons more to do it and the games are gonna be against trash. So they'll just wait for knockouts and come then.

But I think we'll see a lot of folks who got affordable supporter's tickets actually choose to not come now. Maybe I'm wrong.

Furlock Bones said:

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I can pay the prices. I however refuse to pay them. This is out of control.

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Many group stage games will be about as much as Astros tickets in rightfield on a Wednesday night against Detroit.

I agree on current prices.

Yeah the ticket price argument is moot for most of the games. I've been on FIFA's system many times as a buyer, seller, and here lately watching these infernal late releases to try and rebuy if prices drop. They're not dropping. And the tickets disappear while I browse.

Demand is nuts. But I'd bet a coke it's mostly Americans looking to get a bucket list experience. It's honestly not much worse than major concerts, etc. We crave live entertainment.

Just because the prices are too high for you and me doesn't mean they're priced incorrectly.

They are down 23% in 30 days according to Forbes. And that was after falling about that much the month before.

Some individual games have dropped by over 50%

JJWAGGIE said:

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you've also got to place some blame on the hotels themselves… my daughter has playoffs with her club in Arlington during the same time as the games, and your standard Courtyard Marriott off the highway is going for absurd prices, even for the group stage… reaching over $800 a night for the final match in Dallas. With those rates, people tend to find alternatives or pass altogether.

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Initially, it wasn't the ticket prices that kept me from pulling the trigger - it was the hotel prices. I wasn't going to spend $1500/night in Boston for a room for multiple nights so I gave up hope completely on attempting to go.

I held on tickets for that exact reason, and it helped me overall as ticket demand dropped some and hotel prices dropped significantly.....but not low enough yet for me to stay for the week and catch both Scotland matches. We'll stay two nights and fly home the day after their first match.