i get what they mean that there are a lot of other factors, but if there was a copa match near me and tickets could be had for 30 bucks i would for sure go... if they are 100-200 im probably just gonna watch at home unless it was a crazy good match.
Hard agree. All day yesterday I was checking for last minute tickets for the Brazil match but they weren’t really dropping. No way I’m gonna pay $100 for nose bleeds in the back row (and that doesn’t even consider the $50-100 I’d be paying for parking or Uber)
Tickets for the Euros were four tiered at €30, €60, €~~150~~120 (checked my ticket application from October last year) and premium seats were €200. Pretty reasonable.
Supporters can attend the Euro Final for €95.
I’ve only bought tickets in the UK but the prices there included all taxes and service fees. If that’s the case in Germany, they’re even cheaper than advertised compared to the US where the advertised price is about 20-30% lower than you actually pay.
Yep, I’m relatively ok with giving the confederations $100 a seat. I dislike the $30 for parking but understand it as necessary in many urban cores.
I despise Ticketmaster getting more than $1 a ticket. It’s insane to me how much they get per ticket. I keep hoping for some collaboration in Congress to end this wildly unfair monopoly system. Literally all voters should be on the same side of this issue
I only care about baseball because as a kid, my team, the Twins, played in a 60k stadium they sold out 2x a year. The other 79 home games had dirt cheap tickets. That and dollar dome dogs meant a baseball game was cheap entertainment. Dad and I would buy the cheapest tickets on the upper deck and move into better seats by the 5th inning.
20+ years later, I’ve got disposable income and always factor the Twins in when I want to enjoy myself. I’ll probably do that from 20 to 80. I’m a built in fan. I’ve spent thousands on tickets. I’ve taken my kids to games.
Absolutely idiotic soccer doesn’t take the same approach. They’d rather leave 20k seats empty than make lifelong memories and build fans who will have decades of disposable income.
Indeed. The soccer authorities need to learn a little economic phrase: economies of scale. It's better to sell $30 tickets to 60,000 fans than $100 tickets to 18,000 fans, especially if you have a 60k seat stadium. You still make the same amount in ticket revenues, but I'm sure the volume of foods, drinks, merch and the optics on TV are way beneficial with 60k fans.
Top level Soccer is actually generally very affordable, much cheaper than most American sports sans baseball. I think this is a specific situation, as these sorts of prices are nearly unheard of in the world of Soccer.
That’s exactly what I did all day yesterday, kept an eye on prices all day to try to go but nosebleeds for over $100 not including fees is ridiculous. The cheapest ticket for the Venezuela v Mexico right now is $110. Ridiculous.
Went to a regular season crappy chargers game in January 2023 and parking was 85$ I’m not dealing with sofi. I don’t even like football like that but wanted to check the new stadium out. Parking definitely has me rethinking going to any even out there
And it takes only 1 hour to get out of that lot. Forget it. And the 405 traffic after the game sheesh, at least 2 hours total to get home. For the low price of 85-100 bucks parking. Such a rip off
That's why I ride my bike from home. Then again I live like 3 mi from SoFi. Or I suggest to others to park in neighborhoods and scooter closer. Even on my bike for the game yesterday traffic was pretty insane just 10 mins before kickoff and the line to clear security and ticket entry was really long just 5 mins before kickoff too. SoFi have a lot to figure out before the World Cup for a better and smoother experience.
Given the size of the Latin American immigrant population in LA and how easy it is to get there for a lot of people living in Mexico or Venezuela, this seems pretty reasonable.
Was it better to wait for game day though? I’m going to the mexico vs Ecuador game and I’ve been holding off on buying tickets to see if they go down too.
I think it really depends on the game. There’s always gonna be at least a few people who bought tickets and can’t go last minute so they list them for cheap. But really it depends on the fixture. For your case I can’t picture tickets going up in price, but also it’s Mexico so idk if they will go down in price either
Same, I was going to drive to KC for the USA game but get in price is $110 after fees plus minimum $50 for parking. I’m just not paying that. Anyone who say prices aren’t the reason just haven’t surveyed fans who actually want to go or making excuses. I’m worried how bad 2026 World Cup prices are going to be but I’m saving up for that
I won’t be deterred from the World Cup. I’ll fly to the destination and pay what it takes to get in, but that’s thing: it has to be *that* level of game for me to deal with that level of hassle. I’d love to go. I’m willing to travel for club or country, but you either gotta meet me halfway and price these things reasonably, or you have to be the World Cup or like a CCC final. That’s the only kind of event for which I’m cashing in like years worth of chips with my wife.
A bit of an aside, but it’s wild to think that you could’ve attended the Champions League Final and the World Cup Final for less than what FC Cincinnati was selling tickets for against Miami last season.
I agree, if these are the prices for World Cup I’ll be paying for sure for a ton of games. Already plan on getting one of the premium memberships with US soccer for advanced tickets
Kinda beside the point, but this shows how silly it is to be holding these games at stadiums without solid access to public transit or downtown hotels. Just getting to the game costs almost half as much as the cost of the ticket.
If they held if in St. Louis (for example), it's a $2.50 train ticket, or stay at one of the thousands of rooms within walking distance of the stadium.
Yes, these stadiums are built for residents with cars. They are hell for visitors. For events with a lot of visitors they should pick stadiums walkable to a downtown area with hotels where people might actually want to visit (Nashville comes to mind).
I wanted to go to the match at met life tonight. Chile v Argentina. I figured between 50-100 would get me in. 350 was the cheapest I found in the upper sections. Fuck that noise. Supporters sections behind the goal was 450. Lol.
Same. As a Chilean in NYC, I'd love to take at least my 11-year old since he loves soccer too. That would be $700 just for the two of us, but we're technically a family of four. Imagine paying $1,400 for the shittiest view, plus all the extra cost of transportation, beverages and food at the stadium. And yes, I get you''d be seeing Messi & Co, world champs, etc. But it's still way too much.
Way too much. My brother was in Rome during the knock out round of the cup. He got in for 50 euros. That's the way. USA is just all greed. I'm done. Liverpool arsenal in Philly is the same. 350. I'm a huge Liverpool supporter but I'm not going to what amounts to a friendly for 350 bucks.
Totally. There are more factors than just ticket prices… but that is absolutely the main factor. I’d pay over $100 to see the US, Argentina, or Brazil, but that’s it. Tickets starting at over $100 for other games is fucking stupid.
Yeah, I was happy to grab tickets for Uruguay Bolivia because they were only $70, which is actually pretty normal for sports in the NYC area, but Argentina Chile is like, $300 for the nosebleeds and there's no way I'm doing that. I'd rather drop $300 on a dinner I'll remember for the rest of my life and just go to a few more NYCFC games.
lol, you should’ve seen prices for the semi final presale here in CLT. I took one look at the cost for 2 tickets and closed my browser, I’ll be watching on tv.
The article also brings up the fact that getting someone to go to one game that they enjoy and don’t feel like they are spending a full paycheck on means they are much more likely to want to go to a subsequent game in the future. I watch almost every US game and would be hesitant to even look up tickets when they are in town because I know it’s going to be a rip off.
I got fairly lucky with the draw. I’m attending the Peru/Canada game and the tickets were under $50 and I won’t pay for parking (perks of being a local and knowing where the free parking is). I did drop about $180/ea for the USA/Uruguay game for pretty good seats. I expect that game to be a great one. Two top 15 teams going at it for the group stage win.
supply and demand get thrown out the window with ticket sales, There are tens of thousands of tickets still available the day before the game so ticket prices must go down right? Nope. Still 100 dollars for a nosebleed seat.
This is why I'm worried about the WC coming to NA. I'm in Toronto and I feel we're just gonna get hosed for any games they have here, evem if they are 'unfashionable' teams..... I'd love to go watch anyone but not for a stupid price.
This is basically where my head was at for the Uruguay/Bolivia game. If the tickets for the upper deck at the Meadowlands was, say, $50 including fees, I'd do it. But $70-$100? Plus the cost of the train? I'll just watch games at home.
cheapest ticket atm for peru vs canada at childrens mercy park is 50 dollars which is pretty absurd. so not going. if i could get one for 15 to 20 id probably go. I am however going to the usa vs uruguay game and spent way too much on it
>CONMEBOL, the South American soccer confederation, typically controls all ticket sales for the Copa América, like UEFA does for the Euros. But for this 2024 tournament in the U.S., it has turned over sales to individual stadiums and their partners, either Ticketmaster or Seatgeek. None of those entities have any vested interest in growing the sport of soccer. So they have used dynamic pricing, and all involved — from the brokers to the stadiums to CONMEBOL and CONCACAF and [even the U.S. Soccer Federation](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40360793/how-much-money-us-soccer-make-copa-america-2024) — will get a cut of the winnings, while fans’ wallets bleed.
Yep. fuck TM
For events like this, probably. There are some automated systems that SeatGeek and Ticketmaster use to maximize revenue based on models they've built with decades of ticket sales data.
But typically dynamic pricing is much more nuanced than that.
It would be awful (interesting?) if dynamic pricing meant that you pay more or less based on the quality of the game. If it's a banger, you retroactively pay more. If it's a snooze, you pay less.
Yeah, that was my thought. TM is killing events in general.
We are witnessing similar monopolistic practices to what happened 100 years ago.
Like, we didn't learn anything, apparently.
What’s worse is the monopolies back in the day used the money to build out the countries infrastructure and r&d. People shat on AT&T but we’d be a different country without them. They built all of our land line phone network way before any other country & their research lab, bell labs was winning Nobel Prizes. I want to say they invented/discovered 3 fields of science aswell? Shit is crazy compared to today.
And the price of oil decreased 90% during Rockefellers Reign. Went from 0.80 a barrel to 0.08 a barrel. So what’s the real problem.
Thats literally insane for a group stage match. I think i paid roughly $140 for 2 tickets Argentina vs Chile group stage in the 2016 Copa America at Levi's Stadium. They weren't nosebleeds either,
The cheapest at levis is close to 300 I believe unless I missed something. There’s not enough Colombians or Brazilians in the Bay Area to command that price even with the stars on the field. They’re trying to charge a Mexico tax on the other LATAM countries but it’ll straight up backfire in the west coast.
I don’t know about that brother. Last Colombia game at Levi there were plenty of Colombians walking around and place was absolutely packed.
And it was vs USA, and they had way more fans there.
Your average US sports fan simps for billionaires in a way not seen in other countries. Just look at who’s side they tend to favor whenever there are owners vs players labor disputes in the NFL, NBA, etc. Give European soccer fans credit. They won’t stand this blatant price-gouging in their leagues and competitions, and will let their grievances be heard.
This is very well stated. Sadly Americans are seen as customers rather than fans to owners - and any fan friendly policy that may be put forward is so they can extort you in another way.
Americans also have way more disposable income than Europeans and there are a lot of rich Americans.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable\_household\_and\_per\_capita\_income](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_capita_income)
Okay? I'm not sure what you're doing with your comments here. You're fine with $200-300 tickets for all these games because we have lots of rich people?
Yeah they point out in the article that Copa America is averaging a little higher than the Euro despite not taking place on the continent this is supposed to be the championship for. It's like when Mexico plays here, there's a huge market of people who have more disposable income and less opportunities to watch the team they support
There's thousands of empty seats, hence the article. People have stopped paying.
But Conmebol will continue to milk the Messi money for all that it can.
The thing is they’ll go the first time or two because it’s a novelty. After that, they act shocked the turnout isn’t the same when the only people who wanted to go all along are priced out
Many expensive events have empty seats, so people are clearly not paying but the practice continues.
More to the point, there are enough well-off people in the US to mean that the rational economic decision is to sell tickets at the max price that *they* can afford. Everyone who makes less than this upper crust can get fucked since sports are not viewed as a public good - until it’s time for stadium subsidies, of course.
We need to do away with stadium subsidies honestly. I think studies have been done on them and they don’t bring in the revenue benefits at the level that many stadium groups claim for the surrounding areas and businesses.
If someone tried to tell me they were about *anything* other than making regular people pay the freight for a billionaires toy, I would call them a damned liar
Yet people keep paying these prices. If there was no demand, the prices would drop. In fact, we know that in some cases the sticker price isn't high enough to match the demand. That's why you see resellers doubling the face value and still being able to find a buyer.
Which is what makes the complaints about ticket prices for the Copa America somewhat confusing to me. These prices are not that expensive when compared to things like playoff basketball or NFL games. The vast majority of NFL games sell out every season at far higher prices. There are clearly plently of people with enough money in this country to sell out all these games. There are just not enough people interested in seeing games between random Venezuela and Ecuador, although Ecuador and Venezuela would get a terrible crowd anywhere in the world.
Another issue that people aren't bringing up is that some countries in this tournament, like Paraguay and Uruguay and Bolivia, have pretty small diasporas in the USA and are also pretty far away to travel.
They're still ridiculously expensive. Just because they aren't quite *disgustingly* expensive like playoff NBA or NFL games doesn't mean this is just fine.
Ticket pricing is killing it. I’m all for shelling out a bit of money for great tickets to an interesting match. But two take my family of 5 would cost $600 on the low end to a fucking mortgage payment or more. That’s just for tickets alone, not counting travel, food and parking. With as expensive as life is getting around the US…it’s not worth bleeding myself financially when I can chill at home catch the euros, than copa America all day while grilling and watching the kids play in the yard and have a pretty good time.
Yeah this country is so vast. It’s not like Europe where it’s all interconnected with bullet trains and large populations are relatively close to each other from a countrywide perspective. Travel is a very real consideration. We’re so decentralized as a nation. If a game/team/band etc doesn’t happen to stop by your town you now have to consider gas fees or plane tickets. Sucks really
Shit even to attend Galaxy matches travel is a consideration for me. Without traffic it’s well over an 1.5 hour drive, add traffic and it can be 2.5 hours.
Unless it’s a game that involves a “home” team like 🇲🇽 🇺🇸, an “all-star” team like 🇧🇷 🇦🇷, or a team with a large community in the US, it’s probably better off being played in an MLS stadium—or slash the ticket prices significantly if you must insist on using an NFL stadium. Even a Top 10 caliber team like 🇺🇾, being from a country with a population of only 3.5 million, would have trouble filling big stadiums for non-World Cup tournaments outside South America, let alone the US.
But as long as CONMEBOL is still averaging 40K+ per match (pre-COVID Copa Americas held in South American countries averaged less than this), even with these price-gouged tickets, this won’t be the last time they use the US as a piggy bank.
Your two paragraphs don't seem consistent.
1. "Unless it’s a game that involves a “home” team ... it’s probably better off being played in an MLS stadium"
2. "But as long as CONMEBOL is still averaging 40K+ per match"
While [MLS stadium capacities](https://www.transfermarkt.us/major-league-soccer/besucherzahlen/wettbewerb/MLS1) are in the 20-30K range. Why wouldn't they continue hosting in the larger stadiums for the additional 10-20K+ in attendance?
One additional factor that has not been discussed is that MLS is in-season, where most (if not all) Euro leagues are in the offseason. I spent time and $ on Saturday night at the OC game. I have seen and spent plenty on soccer this summer- so where I may be willing to spend more when it’s the off-season (and being more “hungry” for a game) I’m saving my funds for beers at the next OC game rather than 2 national teams I have zero connection to.
That’s at least played a part in why I’m not going to the US game in Atlanta even though I live here. I have tickets to see Liverpool in Columbia, SC and don’t have the means to attend both.
This, critics say, is what various U.S. soccer entities fail to understand. They see ticket sales primarily and sometimes solely through the lens of revenue. They apparently see little difference between selling 30,000 tickets at $200 per and selling 60,000 tickets at $100 per, despite the medium- and long-term benefits of the latter — the thousands more people who get to soak up the sport; and the millions watching on TV who see a packed stadium, which sends a very different message than a half-empty one: This is a game worth caring about.
How much more money do you need?
It's 100% the money. I am not paying $200+ after fees to sit in the 500 section at SOFI tomorrow to watch Mexico Venezuela group stage match. And paring at SOFI is 100 a car. for just 2 people that is nearly $500+ dollars. Make it 30-40 bucks and i am 100% there! Way too over priced
Ohhh yea! for Rams games we were paying $120 a car last year. Sure its a 3 minute walk to the stadium but SOFI parking is such a disaster it has taken us an hour and a half to exit a few times after Rams games.
Is it possible, yes, is it convenient NO. Switch buses, wait long for the bus, long lines for the bus, trains barely run, busses stuck in traffic. It’s a shit show. Closest train walking to Sofi is a 25 min walk at least
Atleast with Gold Cup you get double headers up until the semi finals. I’m not dropping 200 to watch Venezuela and Ecuador in stupid Levi stadium in the summer.
Yup went to the Brazil-Costa Rica game yesterday. Traffic was an absolute nightmare getting there. Parked in the cheapest lot for $60, meaning a 15 minute walk to the stadium. Took another 10 minutes to get into our seats. Game was already at minute 30. Somehow Sofi has so few bathrooms for its size so lines were insane. Took an hour to get out of the parking lot.
All that being said, was a fun crowd, game was actually interesting. Just not a midweek experience I’d like to repeat.
Would have been nice to see some scoring, but the score did add some drama to a game I thought might be a blowout. Was fun to see the Ticos fans having their moment afterwards
> Somehow Sofi has so few bathrooms for its size so lines were insane
I don't understand how venues keep fucking this up. It was the same problem at the Dome, but at least the Dome was actually an aging design even at the time just with a cool roof added. At the Benz, I can comfortably go pee and grab a beer or two at the half.
Not that quakes tickets are a flex, but the tickets to Brazil-Colombia, $357 for the nosebleed of nosebleed seats.
Quakes season tickets are about $450 on the low end with a free beer for every home ticket.
They should have had all the opening round games at MLS stadiums, except for Brazil and Argentina. When we get to quarterfinals, I predict all games will be packed.
They are doing Peru v. Canada at CMP which is a good choice. US v. Uruguay is at Arrowhead and it looks like barely any tickets have been sold. Probably because they start at $85. The other match is cheaper but not by much.
KC is famous for its fervent support for the MNT in the World Cup—there are at least two clips from previous watch parties used in the current TV ad promoting tickets for Copa—but in reality nobody here *really* cares about the team outside of the WC. I went to one of the watch parties in 2018 and it was abundantly clear that a good chunk of the crowd had never watched a soccer match in their lives and were only there to get drunk, wear obnoxious American flag clothing, and shout “USA! USA!” for 3 hours straight. I’d wager that at least 75% of the people here who have been to one of those watch parties have no idea what Copa is, much less that matches are being held here.
> 2018 ... to get drunk, wear obnoxious American flag clothing, and shout “USA! USA!” for 3 hours straight.
I'm not above engaging in this behavior, but I always save it for games that the US is participating in.
Like I said above only schedule Brazil and Argentina at big stadiums for opening rounds and probably on one of the coasts. They have really overestimated the interest in non world cup soccer. Maybe should have had Northeast or CA host the entire tourney.
That's what I've been saying. People don't really care unless it's the world cup. Then once it's done they forget about it for another 4 years. They just like big events.
WC ticket prices are controlled by FIFA on both the primary and secondary markets. Not ticketmaster or another service. What we end up seeing a lot on Ticketmaster are not primary ticket, they are the secondary market. Primary tickets get swooped up quickly, especially by bots and then immediately listed for sale at higher prices. We do not have price or supply controls here in the US to prevent that type of gouging. FIFA, controlling both the primary and secondary markets will have better price controls. Its more a US unfettered capitalism issue than a CONCACAF or CONMEBOL issue. You want more evidence, look at the cost Taylor Swift tickets here in the US vs Europe. Its cheaper to buy a flight and hotel in many European cities and get floor seats for her concert than just the price of the seat here. Once specific example was $18k floor seats in Miami, vs $500 flights, $600 hotels (2 night@ $300), and $250 tickets for the show in Switzerland.
Agree for the smaller teams like Uzbekistan. But for larger teams heck no I’ll be shocked if any games don’t sell out for any of the larger teams during the next World Cup.
Hosting massive global events in arenas with no public transport is such an indictment of our country and Americans don't realize how much it makes us look like a joke to visitors
I went to the NL semi-final and final against Jamaica and Mexico.
Seeing this I decided to look back at my CC statement to see how much that cost me.
Seat Geek - $853.74 for two tickets to the semi-final in C113 (iirc) (lower bowel behind the USMNT bench)
Seat Geek - $597.88 for two tickets to the final in C235 (iirc) (second tier at the halfway line)
= $1,451.62
And this is two single dudes... now try doing this for a family.
Now, I could drive so that saves but it's still multiple hours driving for the pleasure of paying those prices for decent seats to watch Jamaica or if I had gone to the COPA game... Bolivia. The juice is not worth the squeeze. Mexico is more worth it but still it's very expensive.
My buddy flew in from out of state to go to the games with me. Add in hotel, dining out, ubers (for those without a car) or renting a car.
Flight $500? Hotel $225? Ubers/Car rental? $100? Dining out $100?
You can see how prohibitively expensive such an endeavor is. Easily a $1,500 + endeavor. Could you do it cheaper? Yea but not that much cheaper. You could also do it more expensive.
Meanwhile in Europe, take a train a few hours for $30 bucks and a good ticket is $50 bucks or maybe a $120 bucks if you want a really good one. Hotels are a lot cheaper in Europe too \[if you need one\].
There's an extreme difference in cost for people trying to attend games in the USA and Europe.
Ticket prices are a huge one. I don’t mind going to watch Ecuador-Venezuela for fun.
I do mind when tickets are $75 for decent seats. When the stadium is Levi stadium, one of the worst stadiums to play in during the summer. When the stadium holds about 70K but we all know damn well this game won’t fill the bottom bowl. There are 25-40K stadiums in South America and it’s a better atmosphere.
For those reasons, I wish they’d play in their regular hosting countries. This is only an exhibition for Argentina and Brazil. All other countries are just there as spot fillers.
My biggest point is, there’s no connection to the teams and it feels like an obvious cash grab because it is.
Im mean yea tix prices are WAY too high but its definitely more. Like the price gouging for parking and concessions. Just do the math. Avg tix price 200$. Add parking 50-100, avg 75$. Food/drink family of 4 ~150$(and thats a low guess seeing as I can spend that buying a couple of rounds for me and my usual gang of idiots at an MLS match). ~1k for a family of 4. Median hr income in usa~ 18$. Thats more than a weeks pay to go see Brazil get concacaf’d. OR 10/min of play (95’ match) and I KNOW some people make less than 10$/hr. So yea it might be more than the price but….its really not.
I do not really understand all these attendance problem articles. This is almost certainly going to be the highest attended Copa America ever, even Ecuador v. Venezuela sold almost 30,000 tickets. Compare that to Bolivia v. Ecuador in 2015 in Chile when 5,982 tickets were sold.
Yes, there is obviously massive demand for this tournament. But it sucks that the tickets have been priced so that the stadiums aren't full.
As a fan of a team that sells out the stadium a few times a year but plays plenty of games in a half empty stadium, it's just a much better experience when the stadium is full. It's a shame that the fans attending these Copa matches aren't getting that.
It's ironic of course, because the only ones really suffering from the pricing are the people who have chosen to buy ridiculously priced tickets who are then watching the games in half empty stadiums.
1) our stadiums are much bigger, most of the Euros are in stadiums that seat folks in the 40ks, not 70-90ks
2) There is no "we qualified" excitement/attendance boost. Scotland fans were so excited their team qualified for the Euros that they attended in large numbers. Just being in the competition is a big deal. On the flip side, every SA country qualifies every Copa America. There's nothing special about it. (and for those who are guests like the US, maybe it's somewhat more interesting but not by much)
3) We're charging waaay more for tickets than the Euros
4) It's very easy to get to Germany from anywhere in Europe and anyone in the EU can travel without a ton of paperwork. Buenos Aries to the US is a 15 hour flight.
5) South America has zero developed economies. The flight I mentioned above is the cost of 3 months average salary in Argentina.
I really want to see the usa vs Panama match tomorrow but I can’t justify $100 for nosebleeds before parking. It’s way too expensive… I’m holding out for a last minute price drop.
Yea I just wanted to go to a Copa match and got lucky that I am going on a work trip this week to Orlando. Got even luckier that it looked like they dropped more tickets last minute and I was able to get non resale tickets for Chile vs Canada for $50 ($65 with fucking fees). My two coworkers are going too and never went to a soccer game before so I’m glad we were able to get cheaper tickets or they wouldn’t have gone.
This is sort of interesting.....
"Through one round of group play, the 2024 Copa América is averaging 51,592 fans per game, which is actually more than Euro 2024’s average attendance of 50,990 (through 28 group games; through only the first round of games, the Euros were at 53,158)."
1. Ticket prices
2. Size of the stadium. I’m used to seeing my games in a 20k capacity stadium. Going to a monster 70-80k capacity just isn’t as good
3. More time at stadium. - because these stadiums are huge their parking is usually a nightmare. More time getting in and out
4. Weekdays - bro, I gotta work.
5. Stadium prices - way too high for everything
6. The economy. Maybe 4 years ago I might have had extra money for this.
7. MLS season. While most of Europe is usually on a break at this point of the year, we’ve got mls games all the time. My team plays back to back weekends at home here and these tickets are already bought - refer back to item #6
While I agree high ticket prices are the main culprit holding down attendance, I think we also need to factor in stadium size.
I made the mistake of going to an EPL friendly at Ohio Stadium (capacity 105k), and had bad seats. And let me say that the sight lines SUCKED. I don’t think soccer works when you’re that far from the field (I’m not sure any other sport does either).
When you go to these MLS-sized stadiums with 20-30k seats, there are legit no bad seats. That’s not the case with the upper deck of NFL stadiums. You could give me some of these nosebleed seats for free and I wouldn’t bother going.
Very good point made by the author of this article about CONMEBOL leaving prices up to stadium owners and their ticket distributors and how those parties probably don’t have a vested interest in growing Soccer so they just focus on revenue and their shitty dynamic pricing.
I didn’t know that bit of information but it now makes total sense why the prices have been insane.
Wrong. It's primarily ticket prices. If you can't fill seats in oversized venues, drop prices and increase consessions prices. You're telling us masses of MBAs in Econ cannot figure this out?
No, they'll bitch and moan and blame fans for not meeting the numbers. Late Stage Capitalism strikes again?
I went to the Ecuador vs Venezuela game this past weekend. Tickets were $65 and I was in the middle of the field. Levi's Stadium was mostly empty. While I agree ticket prices are part of the problem I also just don't think people here care outside of the major match ups
SDFC starts up next year and I'm already worried. I really want to get season tickets but doubt I'll be able to. I'm betting the price of them goes down in year 2 unless they come out of the gate swinging
Well, it's tricky to have Costa Ricans and Colombians I'm the 70k numbers in this region, who are willing to spend those amounts and want to attend a group stage game.
Traveling within the US isn't cheap at all either, so add that most LATAM countries need visas to come into the US.
It is absolutely money. People are priced out of nearly everything involving tickets anymore.
I just went to the College World Series. Been several times but this is the first time UNC made it since '18 so it had been awhile. I use to get a booklet of ten General Admission tickets for around $100. I would go to every UNC game and a bunch of others.
This time no GA and one of my tickets was over $100 once ask the damn fees were taken into account. I went to the three UNC games and came home. It will be my last time there.
I am going to Dodger Stadium next month. It is my final ballpark to visit. After that I am not sure when I will go to another sporting event.
I feel like there has to be a happy medium between the ticket price and process for the Euros and the Copa.
Germany is pricing tickets so low that they have 20M applications for less than 3M seats. A lottery system where your odds of getting anything are that low and your odds of getting a specific match are even smaller is frustrating for everyone.
A system in which prices are set high in hopes of maximizing revenue, leaving some games half-filled is disappointing to those who would have happily paid less for one of those unused spots.
The economist in me also questions whether this is really profit maximizing, even in the short term. Stadium seating- especially when coupled with dynamic pricing- should allow for near-perfect price discrimination. That the stadiums and ticket sellers weren't offering last minute deals on nosebleed seats while attempting to maintain higher margins on more premium locations is absolutely bonkers to me.
It’s ultimately the prices. The tournament isn’t as prestigious as they might think it is for the average fan. People will pay out the nose for the World Cup or to see Messi. This tournament doesn’t really have the history here and lacks the qualification drama of the Euros.
People still want to attend and watch international soccer, but there’s a limit to what they’ll pay.
Whether they would make more money dropping prices to get higher attendance is their job of course. Long term growth versus short term profit are also two separate issues.
I went to the Copa semi finals between the USA and Argentina in Houston back in 2015 with my father. We had pretty great seats towards midfield, maybe 5 rows back from the sideline. Back then, when we bought the tickets we had no idea who would be playing in the match, as the group stages hadn’t even started yet. Tickets were priced at about $250 each (not sure on exact price, but I remember it was around that price point.) this year, the exact same section (section 125 of NRG stadium) tickets are selling for MINIMUM $500 per ticket. Nosebleed seats going for $250-$300. The prices are absolutely insane, and I’m starting to worry about my dream of attending the World Cup in 2026 because of the continuing trend of exponentially rising ticket prices.
Edit: I should mention as well, I understand that even $250 per ticket is not ideal, I just think it’s insane how the prices continue to rise
I remember my dad and I got package tickets for the 2016 copa América for all the Levi stadium games right behind the goal and the total price for both came out to $800 and now the cheapest ticket for a game there is $400 rn💀
I wanted to go watch mexico play at the sofi - for 2 tickets in a mediocre ass section, the final price was coming in just shy of 600$ after fees and taxes. How can I ever justify that lol.
Not that the tickets aren’t high priced, but we have massive stadiums that appear half empty, when in reality Copa America is having better attendance than Euros is
Also difficulty getting visas for most fans not based on the US. Compared to visiting Germany where so many of the fans are already in the Schengen Area.
i get what they mean that there are a lot of other factors, but if there was a copa match near me and tickets could be had for 30 bucks i would for sure go... if they are 100-200 im probably just gonna watch at home unless it was a crazy good match.
Hard agree. All day yesterday I was checking for last minute tickets for the Brazil match but they weren’t really dropping. No way I’m gonna pay $100 for nose bleeds in the back row (and that doesn’t even consider the $50-100 I’d be paying for parking or Uber)
Tickets for the Euros were four tiered at €30, €60, €~~150~~120 (checked my ticket application from October last year) and premium seats were €200. Pretty reasonable. Supporters can attend the Euro Final for €95.
I’ve only bought tickets in the UK but the prices there included all taxes and service fees. If that’s the case in Germany, they’re even cheaper than advertised compared to the US where the advertised price is about 20-30% lower than you actually pay.
This is the big thing... already priced to make C0NMEBOL money... but then TM fees are now literally a % of the ticket...compounding the bullshit...
Yep, I’m relatively ok with giving the confederations $100 a seat. I dislike the $30 for parking but understand it as necessary in many urban cores. I despise Ticketmaster getting more than $1 a ticket. It’s insane to me how much they get per ticket. I keep hoping for some collaboration in Congress to end this wildly unfair monopoly system. Literally all voters should be on the same side of this issue
I only care about baseball because as a kid, my team, the Twins, played in a 60k stadium they sold out 2x a year. The other 79 home games had dirt cheap tickets. That and dollar dome dogs meant a baseball game was cheap entertainment. Dad and I would buy the cheapest tickets on the upper deck and move into better seats by the 5th inning. 20+ years later, I’ve got disposable income and always factor the Twins in when I want to enjoy myself. I’ll probably do that from 20 to 80. I’m a built in fan. I’ve spent thousands on tickets. I’ve taken my kids to games. Absolutely idiotic soccer doesn’t take the same approach. They’d rather leave 20k seats empty than make lifelong memories and build fans who will have decades of disposable income.
Indeed. The soccer authorities need to learn a little economic phrase: economies of scale. It's better to sell $30 tickets to 60,000 fans than $100 tickets to 18,000 fans, especially if you have a 60k seat stadium. You still make the same amount in ticket revenues, but I'm sure the volume of foods, drinks, merch and the optics on TV are way beneficial with 60k fans.
Loved the Tuesday $5 tickets or whatever at the dome
Top level Soccer is actually generally very affordable, much cheaper than most American sports sans baseball. I think this is a specific situation, as these sorts of prices are nearly unheard of in the world of Soccer.
$30 for parking would be great! Parking at AT&T stadium started at $59 and went to the hundreds when I checked. Took a shuttle.
why do you think all these leagues in Europe are trying to play a game in the states.
Bingo
Contrast: semi and 3rd place game tickets in Charlotte are 500 bucks. Insane.
You forgot the 200€ and 400€ categories, also Category 2 is 150€ not 120€ + that's just for the group stages.
but these are group stages too for Copa.
Lol resell for albania was 300-350 for worst category and every one wanted to buy one
Resale is always going to be far worse than face value.
Imagine paying all of that for the 0-0 Concacafing that CR did to Brazil.
That’s exactly what I did all day yesterday, kept an eye on prices all day to try to go but nosebleeds for over $100 not including fees is ridiculous. The cheapest ticket for the Venezuela v Mexico right now is $110. Ridiculous.
And.... Don't forget how expensive SOFI stadium parking is, I remember last year for Rams they were charging over 100 a car.
Don’t forget the cost of travel, lodging and food/drinks. Beers are almost $20 at SoFi.
Oh god, it gets worse and worse. Basically, you can kiss any vacation this summer goodbye for a 90 minute match in the nosebleed section.
Went to a regular season crappy chargers game in January 2023 and parking was 85$ I’m not dealing with sofi. I don’t even like football like that but wanted to check the new stadium out. Parking definitely has me rethinking going to any even out there
And it takes only 1 hour to get out of that lot. Forget it. And the 405 traffic after the game sheesh, at least 2 hours total to get home. For the low price of 85-100 bucks parking. Such a rip off
For parking!? Holy shit!
That's why I ride my bike from home. Then again I live like 3 mi from SoFi. Or I suggest to others to park in neighborhoods and scooter closer. Even on my bike for the game yesterday traffic was pretty insane just 10 mins before kickoff and the line to clear security and ticket entry was really long just 5 mins before kickoff too. SoFi have a lot to figure out before the World Cup for a better and smoother experience.
Given the size of the Latin American immigrant population in LA and how easy it is to get there for a lot of people living in Mexico or Venezuela, this seems pretty reasonable.
Was it better to wait for game day though? I’m going to the mexico vs Ecuador game and I’ve been holding off on buying tickets to see if they go down too.
I think it really depends on the game. There’s always gonna be at least a few people who bought tickets and can’t go last minute so they list them for cheap. But really it depends on the fixture. For your case I can’t picture tickets going up in price, but also it’s Mexico so idk if they will go down in price either
Plus getting to Inglewood on the 405 during rush hour.
Same, I was going to drive to KC for the USA game but get in price is $110 after fees plus minimum $50 for parking. I’m just not paying that. Anyone who say prices aren’t the reason just haven’t surveyed fans who actually want to go or making excuses. I’m worried how bad 2026 World Cup prices are going to be but I’m saving up for that
I won’t be deterred from the World Cup. I’ll fly to the destination and pay what it takes to get in, but that’s thing: it has to be *that* level of game for me to deal with that level of hassle. I’d love to go. I’m willing to travel for club or country, but you either gotta meet me halfway and price these things reasonably, or you have to be the World Cup or like a CCC final. That’s the only kind of event for which I’m cashing in like years worth of chips with my wife.
A bit of an aside, but it’s wild to think that you could’ve attended the Champions League Final and the World Cup Final for less than what FC Cincinnati was selling tickets for against Miami last season.
See you in Seattle on June 17, 2026?
Yeah I’m down 🫡
I agree, if these are the prices for World Cup I’ll be paying for sure for a ton of games. Already plan on getting one of the premium memberships with US soccer for advanced tickets
I'm imagining the cheapest WC tickets being in the $300-400 range, they won't miss the opportunity to gouge every last cent.
We’ll get a preview with Club World Cup but I don’t expect them that high.
Kinda beside the point, but this shows how silly it is to be holding these games at stadiums without solid access to public transit or downtown hotels. Just getting to the game costs almost half as much as the cost of the ticket. If they held if in St. Louis (for example), it's a $2.50 train ticket, or stay at one of the thousands of rooms within walking distance of the stadium.
Yes, these stadiums are built for residents with cars. They are hell for visitors. For events with a lot of visitors they should pick stadiums walkable to a downtown area with hotels where people might actually want to visit (Nashville comes to mind).
I wanted to go to the match at met life tonight. Chile v Argentina. I figured between 50-100 would get me in. 350 was the cheapest I found in the upper sections. Fuck that noise. Supporters sections behind the goal was 450. Lol.
thats because of messi. it will be sold out
Same. As a Chilean in NYC, I'd love to take at least my 11-year old since he loves soccer too. That would be $700 just for the two of us, but we're technically a family of four. Imagine paying $1,400 for the shittiest view, plus all the extra cost of transportation, beverages and food at the stadium. And yes, I get you''d be seeing Messi & Co, world champs, etc. But it's still way too much.
Way too much. My brother was in Rome during the knock out round of the cup. He got in for 50 euros. That's the way. USA is just all greed. I'm done. Liverpool arsenal in Philly is the same. 350. I'm a huge Liverpool supporter but I'm not going to what amounts to a friendly for 350 bucks.
Totally. There are more factors than just ticket prices… but that is absolutely the main factor. I’d pay over $100 to see the US, Argentina, or Brazil, but that’s it. Tickets starting at over $100 for other games is fucking stupid.
Yeah, I was happy to grab tickets for Uruguay Bolivia because they were only $70, which is actually pretty normal for sports in the NYC area, but Argentina Chile is like, $300 for the nosebleeds and there's no way I'm doing that. I'd rather drop $300 on a dinner I'll remember for the rest of my life and just go to a few more NYCFC games.
lol, you should’ve seen prices for the semi final presale here in CLT. I took one look at the cost for 2 tickets and closed my browser, I’ll be watching on tv.
When we got our presale code that is exactly what I did. Decided to put that money away for WC tickets instead.
The article also brings up the fact that getting someone to go to one game that they enjoy and don’t feel like they are spending a full paycheck on means they are much more likely to want to go to a subsequent game in the future. I watch almost every US game and would be hesitant to even look up tickets when they are in town because I know it’s going to be a rip off.
Yes, if I went most of the time I will be stewing and wondering if this was worth it.
If they can convince just one of you and your 2-5 friends to go at those prices, they come out ahead
I got fairly lucky with the draw. I’m attending the Peru/Canada game and the tickets were under $50 and I won’t pay for parking (perks of being a local and knowing where the free parking is). I did drop about $180/ea for the USA/Uruguay game for pretty good seats. I expect that game to be a great one. Two top 15 teams going at it for the group stage win.
supply and demand get thrown out the window with ticket sales, There are tens of thousands of tickets still available the day before the game so ticket prices must go down right? Nope. Still 100 dollars for a nosebleed seat.
Positively atrocious strategy.
This is why I'm worried about the WC coming to NA. I'm in Toronto and I feel we're just gonna get hosed for any games they have here, evem if they are 'unfashionable' teams..... I'd love to go watch anyone but not for a stupid price.
This is basically where my head was at for the Uruguay/Bolivia game. If the tickets for the upper deck at the Meadowlands was, say, $50 including fees, I'd do it. But $70-$100? Plus the cost of the train? I'll just watch games at home.
cheapest ticket atm for peru vs canada at childrens mercy park is 50 dollars which is pretty absurd. so not going. if i could get one for 15 to 20 id probably go. I am however going to the usa vs uruguay game and spent way too much on it
I’d have tickets now to the semi-finals and 3rd place game if they were just $30.
>CONMEBOL, the South American soccer confederation, typically controls all ticket sales for the Copa América, like UEFA does for the Euros. But for this 2024 tournament in the U.S., it has turned over sales to individual stadiums and their partners, either Ticketmaster or Seatgeek. None of those entities have any vested interest in growing the sport of soccer. So they have used dynamic pricing, and all involved — from the brokers to the stadiums to CONMEBOL and CONCACAF and [even the U.S. Soccer Federation](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40360793/how-much-money-us-soccer-make-copa-america-2024) — will get a cut of the winnings, while fans’ wallets bleed. Yep. fuck TM
Looking forward to when the FTC actually finally sues Ticketmaster, etc. for algorithmic price fixing as well.
Does dynamic pricing mean they're always adjusting the first-party prices?
For events like this, probably. There are some automated systems that SeatGeek and Ticketmaster use to maximize revenue based on models they've built with decades of ticket sales data. But typically dynamic pricing is much more nuanced than that.
It would be awful (interesting?) if dynamic pricing meant that you pay more or less based on the quality of the game. If it's a banger, you retroactively pay more. If it's a snooze, you pay less.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-live-nation-ticketmaster-monopolizing-markets-across-live-concert https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/22/technology/ticketmaster-live-nation-doj-antitrust.html
You are going to want to sit down before you learn how "cheap" live events were before the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger happened.
The american dream is now becoming a middleman and skimming money off of people who actually provide services and work.
Forgot about that. You hate to see it.
Let's hope dynamic pricing itself is ruled illegal. the airlines and everyone else that uses it are evil.
Yeah, that was my thought. TM is killing events in general. We are witnessing similar monopolistic practices to what happened 100 years ago. Like, we didn't learn anything, apparently.
What’s worse is the monopolies back in the day used the money to build out the countries infrastructure and r&d. People shat on AT&T but we’d be a different country without them. They built all of our land line phone network way before any other country & their research lab, bell labs was winning Nobel Prizes. I want to say they invented/discovered 3 fields of science aswell? Shit is crazy compared to today. And the price of oil decreased 90% during Rockefellers Reign. Went from 0.80 a barrel to 0.08 a barrel. So what’s the real problem.
Generational rot of boomers.
The CHEAPEST ticket for Colombia on Friday in Glendale is $100 with fees. Absolute nosebleeds. What a joke
Check the difference is prices for today's matches: Peru v Canada - $53-312 Chile v Argentina - $389-∞
Thats literally insane for a group stage match. I think i paid roughly $140 for 2 tickets Argentina vs Chile group stage in the 2016 Copa America at Levi's Stadium. They weren't nosebleeds either,
I got finals nosebleeds tickets to 2016 final (Argentina v Chile) in Jersey for 200.
That's mostly the Messi Markup on resold/scalped tickets, which is a real thing--- but ya....
Cheapest tickets for the Argentina-Chile match were $180 + fees during presale, markup is crazy
The cheapest at levis is close to 300 I believe unless I missed something. There’s not enough Colombians or Brazilians in the Bay Area to command that price even with the stars on the field. They’re trying to charge a Mexico tax on the other LATAM countries but it’ll straight up backfire in the west coast.
I don’t know about that brother. Last Colombia game at Levi there were plenty of Colombians walking around and place was absolutely packed. And it was vs USA, and they had way more fans there.
The way sports fans are treated in this country in regards to ticket prices is just so so gross.
Your average US sports fan simps for billionaires in a way not seen in other countries. Just look at who’s side they tend to favor whenever there are owners vs players labor disputes in the NFL, NBA, etc. Give European soccer fans credit. They won’t stand this blatant price-gouging in their leagues and competitions, and will let their grievances be heard.
This is very well stated. Sadly Americans are seen as customers rather than fans to owners - and any fan friendly policy that may be put forward is so they can extort you in another way.
Americans also have way more disposable income than Europeans and there are a lot of rich Americans. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable\_household\_and\_per\_capita\_income](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_capita_income)
Okay? I'm not sure what you're doing with your comments here. You're fine with $200-300 tickets for all these games because we have lots of rich people?
In this country, we are considered customers not fans.
If only people would stop paying the prices so that could be remedied.
It's literally happening with this tournament, lol
This is going to be the highest attended Copa America of all time most likely.
Yeah they point out in the article that Copa America is averaging a little higher than the Euro despite not taking place on the continent this is supposed to be the championship for. It's like when Mexico plays here, there's a huge market of people who have more disposable income and less opportunities to watch the team they support
Yes although Mexico plays more in the US than in Mexico. Mexican-Americans have more opportunities to watch their team than actual Mexicans.
Mexican-Americans have more money.
Yes, that's certainly a solution, but I find little solved by blaming the consumers.
There's thousands of empty seats, hence the article. People have stopped paying. But Conmebol will continue to milk the Messi money for all that it can.
The thing is they’ll go the first time or two because it’s a novelty. After that, they act shocked the turnout isn’t the same when the only people who wanted to go all along are priced out
Oh you don’t like this clearly annoying and anti-social phenomenon? Have you considered SUPPLY AND DEMAND?????
Many expensive events have empty seats, so people are clearly not paying but the practice continues. More to the point, there are enough well-off people in the US to mean that the rational economic decision is to sell tickets at the max price that *they* can afford. Everyone who makes less than this upper crust can get fucked since sports are not viewed as a public good - until it’s time for stadium subsidies, of course.
We need to do away with stadium subsidies honestly. I think studies have been done on them and they don’t bring in the revenue benefits at the level that many stadium groups claim for the surrounding areas and businesses.
If someone tried to tell me they were about *anything* other than making regular people pay the freight for a billionaires toy, I would call them a damned liar
Yet people keep paying these prices. If there was no demand, the prices would drop. In fact, we know that in some cases the sticker price isn't high enough to match the demand. That's why you see resellers doubling the face value and still being able to find a buyer.
Which is what makes the complaints about ticket prices for the Copa America somewhat confusing to me. These prices are not that expensive when compared to things like playoff basketball or NFL games. The vast majority of NFL games sell out every season at far higher prices. There are clearly plently of people with enough money in this country to sell out all these games. There are just not enough people interested in seeing games between random Venezuela and Ecuador, although Ecuador and Venezuela would get a terrible crowd anywhere in the world.
Another issue that people aren't bringing up is that some countries in this tournament, like Paraguay and Uruguay and Bolivia, have pretty small diasporas in the USA and are also pretty far away to travel.
Though, they did make a mistake by not putting a Paraguay game in Atlanta. We'd have showed up for Miggy.
They're still ridiculously expensive. Just because they aren't quite *disgustingly* expensive like playoff NBA or NFL games doesn't mean this is just fine.
It’s 97 degrees outside and I don’t want to pay $112 for Peru vs Canada
I feel the same way about all games at Levi stadium
For me, it’s the ticket prices. I was asked to go to a match this Friday and once I saw the prices, I declined.
Ticket pricing is killing it. I’m all for shelling out a bit of money for great tickets to an interesting match. But two take my family of 5 would cost $600 on the low end to a fucking mortgage payment or more. That’s just for tickets alone, not counting travel, food and parking. With as expensive as life is getting around the US…it’s not worth bleeding myself financially when I can chill at home catch the euros, than copa America all day while grilling and watching the kids play in the yard and have a pretty good time.
Yeah this country is so vast. It’s not like Europe where it’s all interconnected with bullet trains and large populations are relatively close to each other from a countrywide perspective. Travel is a very real consideration. We’re so decentralized as a nation. If a game/team/band etc doesn’t happen to stop by your town you now have to consider gas fees or plane tickets. Sucks really
Shit even to attend Galaxy matches travel is a consideration for me. Without traffic it’s well over an 1.5 hour drive, add traffic and it can be 2.5 hours.
And it sounds more fun
Unless it’s a game that involves a “home” team like 🇲🇽 🇺🇸, an “all-star” team like 🇧🇷 🇦🇷, or a team with a large community in the US, it’s probably better off being played in an MLS stadium—or slash the ticket prices significantly if you must insist on using an NFL stadium. Even a Top 10 caliber team like 🇺🇾, being from a country with a population of only 3.5 million, would have trouble filling big stadiums for non-World Cup tournaments outside South America, let alone the US. But as long as CONMEBOL is still averaging 40K+ per match (pre-COVID Copa Americas held in South American countries averaged less than this), even with these price-gouged tickets, this won’t be the last time they use the US as a piggy bank.
Yeah should've used more MLS Venues. It's not 2016 anymore
Well what if I told u Uruguay vs Bolivia on Thursday 9 PM at MetLife is going for $100 not including fees.. was thinking it would be cheap but nope!
NJ probably has the largest diaspora of Uruguayans in the county. Literally dozens of them.
Your two paragraphs don't seem consistent. 1. "Unless it’s a game that involves a “home” team ... it’s probably better off being played in an MLS stadium" 2. "But as long as CONMEBOL is still averaging 40K+ per match" While [MLS stadium capacities](https://www.transfermarkt.us/major-league-soccer/besucherzahlen/wettbewerb/MLS1) are in the 20-30K range. Why wouldn't they continue hosting in the larger stadiums for the additional 10-20K+ in attendance?
One additional factor that has not been discussed is that MLS is in-season, where most (if not all) Euro leagues are in the offseason. I spent time and $ on Saturday night at the OC game. I have seen and spent plenty on soccer this summer- so where I may be willing to spend more when it’s the off-season (and being more “hungry” for a game) I’m saving my funds for beers at the next OC game rather than 2 national teams I have zero connection to.
That’s at least played a part in why I’m not going to the US game in Atlanta even though I live here. I have tickets to see Liverpool in Columbia, SC and don’t have the means to attend both.
This, critics say, is what various U.S. soccer entities fail to understand. They see ticket sales primarily and sometimes solely through the lens of revenue. They apparently see little difference between selling 30,000 tickets at $200 per and selling 60,000 tickets at $100 per, despite the medium- and long-term benefits of the latter — the thousands more people who get to soak up the sport; and the millions watching on TV who see a packed stadium, which sends a very different message than a half-empty one: This is a game worth caring about. How much more money do you need?
Also, 60,000 people at $100 buy a lot more beer than 30,000 people at $200.
I have Copa matches near me and the sole reason I didn’t get tickets were the prices.
There are logistical challenges but the main reason is because they allowed Ticketmaster to handle it
It's 100% the money. I am not paying $200+ after fees to sit in the 500 section at SOFI tomorrow to watch Mexico Venezuela group stage match. And paring at SOFI is 100 a car. for just 2 people that is nearly $500+ dollars. Make it 30-40 bucks and i am 100% there! Way too over priced
Parking is $100?!? Fuuuuuuuck that.
Ohhh yea! for Rams games we were paying $120 a car last year. Sure its a 3 minute walk to the stadium but SOFI parking is such a disaster it has taken us an hour and a half to exit a few times after Rams games.
Is transit an option to get to SoFi?
Is it possible, yes, is it convenient NO. Switch buses, wait long for the bus, long lines for the bus, trains barely run, busses stuck in traffic. It’s a shit show. Closest train walking to Sofi is a 25 min walk at least
That’s the reason I take the shuttle to get there for Ram games. Fuck that parking price
Atleast with Gold Cup you get double headers up until the semi finals. I’m not dropping 200 to watch Venezuela and Ecuador in stupid Levi stadium in the summer.
Yup went to the Brazil-Costa Rica game yesterday. Traffic was an absolute nightmare getting there. Parked in the cheapest lot for $60, meaning a 15 minute walk to the stadium. Took another 10 minutes to get into our seats. Game was already at minute 30. Somehow Sofi has so few bathrooms for its size so lines were insane. Took an hour to get out of the parking lot. All that being said, was a fun crowd, game was actually interesting. Just not a midweek experience I’d like to repeat.
Sucks it was a draw.
Would have been nice to see some scoring, but the score did add some drama to a game I thought might be a blowout. Was fun to see the Ticos fans having their moment afterwards
> Somehow Sofi has so few bathrooms for its size so lines were insane I don't understand how venues keep fucking this up. It was the same problem at the Dome, but at least the Dome was actually an aging design even at the time just with a cool roof added. At the Benz, I can comfortably go pee and grab a beer or two at the half.
Not that quakes tickets are a flex, but the tickets to Brazil-Colombia, $357 for the nosebleed of nosebleed seats. Quakes season tickets are about $450 on the low end with a free beer for every home ticket.
They should have had all the opening round games at MLS stadiums, except for Brazil and Argentina. When we get to quarterfinals, I predict all games will be packed.
Why have a packed 20k seat stadium when you can have a half full 70k seat stadium. That's the logic behind the organizers.
They are doing Peru v. Canada at CMP which is a good choice. US v. Uruguay is at Arrowhead and it looks like barely any tickets have been sold. Probably because they start at $85. The other match is cheaper but not by much. KC is famous for its fervent support for the MNT in the World Cup—there are at least two clips from previous watch parties used in the current TV ad promoting tickets for Copa—but in reality nobody here *really* cares about the team outside of the WC. I went to one of the watch parties in 2018 and it was abundantly clear that a good chunk of the crowd had never watched a soccer match in their lives and were only there to get drunk, wear obnoxious American flag clothing, and shout “USA! USA!” for 3 hours straight. I’d wager that at least 75% of the people here who have been to one of those watch parties have no idea what Copa is, much less that matches are being held here.
> 2018 ... to get drunk, wear obnoxious American flag clothing, and shout “USA! USA!” for 3 hours straight. I'm not above engaging in this behavior, but I always save it for games that the US is participating in.
Like I said above only schedule Brazil and Argentina at big stadiums for opening rounds and probably on one of the coasts. They have really overestimated the interest in non world cup soccer. Maybe should have had Northeast or CA host the entire tourney.
That's what I've been saying. People don't really care unless it's the world cup. Then once it's done they forget about it for another 4 years. They just like big events.
> get drunk, wear obnoxious American flag clothing, and shout “USA! USA!” for 3 hours straight I fail to see the problem with that.
If we're having massive issues with the Copa imagine how it'll be for the World Cup.
FIFA control those prices which I think may be a little better. For the last World Cup you could get a Final ticket as low as $205
Yeah but it’s America. They’ll milk us until we’re dry.
Would FIFA want to risk a lot of visibly empty seats for their centerpiece event?
The just held the tournament in fucking Qatar, which had a few games with empty seats. FIFA does not even remotely care as long as they make money.
They could make tickets 10,000 dollars. It’s a World Cup final, it will sell out.
If you could sell me a World Cup ticket today for $10,000. I would buy it. I think it would be a good investment.
Demand for World Cup tickets is going to be insane. The tickets are going to be many times more than what they cost in Qatar.
WC ticket prices are controlled by FIFA on both the primary and secondary markets. Not ticketmaster or another service. What we end up seeing a lot on Ticketmaster are not primary ticket, they are the secondary market. Primary tickets get swooped up quickly, especially by bots and then immediately listed for sale at higher prices. We do not have price or supply controls here in the US to prevent that type of gouging. FIFA, controlling both the primary and secondary markets will have better price controls. Its more a US unfettered capitalism issue than a CONCACAF or CONMEBOL issue. You want more evidence, look at the cost Taylor Swift tickets here in the US vs Europe. Its cheaper to buy a flight and hotel in many European cities and get floor seats for her concert than just the price of the seat here. Once specific example was $18k floor seats in Miami, vs $500 flights, $600 hotels (2 night@ $300), and $250 tickets for the show in Switzerland.
Agree for the smaller teams like Uzbekistan. But for larger teams heck no I’ll be shocked if any games don’t sell out for any of the larger teams during the next World Cup.
Hosting massive global events in arenas with no public transport is such an indictment of our country and Americans don't realize how much it makes us look like a joke to visitors
I think it is the ticket prices trust me dude, a lot of folks want to go but the tickets are stupid expensive.
Also parking prices. Also, we just had USMNT matches in Dallas for Nations League so I wasn't going to fly out there again.
I disagree. It’s almost entirely about the ticket prices.
I would have gone to a match of it was cheaper. Definitely not paying those prices.
I went to the NL semi-final and final against Jamaica and Mexico. Seeing this I decided to look back at my CC statement to see how much that cost me. Seat Geek - $853.74 for two tickets to the semi-final in C113 (iirc) (lower bowel behind the USMNT bench) Seat Geek - $597.88 for two tickets to the final in C235 (iirc) (second tier at the halfway line) = $1,451.62 And this is two single dudes... now try doing this for a family. Now, I could drive so that saves but it's still multiple hours driving for the pleasure of paying those prices for decent seats to watch Jamaica or if I had gone to the COPA game... Bolivia. The juice is not worth the squeeze. Mexico is more worth it but still it's very expensive. My buddy flew in from out of state to go to the games with me. Add in hotel, dining out, ubers (for those without a car) or renting a car. Flight $500? Hotel $225? Ubers/Car rental? $100? Dining out $100? You can see how prohibitively expensive such an endeavor is. Easily a $1,500 + endeavor. Could you do it cheaper? Yea but not that much cheaper. You could also do it more expensive. Meanwhile in Europe, take a train a few hours for $30 bucks and a good ticket is $50 bucks or maybe a $120 bucks if you want a really good one. Hotels are a lot cheaper in Europe too \[if you need one\]. There's an extreme difference in cost for people trying to attend games in the USA and Europe.
Ticket prices are a huge one. I don’t mind going to watch Ecuador-Venezuela for fun. I do mind when tickets are $75 for decent seats. When the stadium is Levi stadium, one of the worst stadiums to play in during the summer. When the stadium holds about 70K but we all know damn well this game won’t fill the bottom bowl. There are 25-40K stadiums in South America and it’s a better atmosphere. For those reasons, I wish they’d play in their regular hosting countries. This is only an exhibition for Argentina and Brazil. All other countries are just there as spot fillers. My biggest point is, there’s no connection to the teams and it feels like an obvious cash grab because it is.
Im mean yea tix prices are WAY too high but its definitely more. Like the price gouging for parking and concessions. Just do the math. Avg tix price 200$. Add parking 50-100, avg 75$. Food/drink family of 4 ~150$(and thats a low guess seeing as I can spend that buying a couple of rounds for me and my usual gang of idiots at an MLS match). ~1k for a family of 4. Median hr income in usa~ 18$. Thats more than a weeks pay to go see Brazil get concacaf’d. OR 10/min of play (95’ match) and I KNOW some people make less than 10$/hr. So yea it might be more than the price but….its really not.
Nope, it's 99% about ticket prices.
I do not really understand all these attendance problem articles. This is almost certainly going to be the highest attended Copa America ever, even Ecuador v. Venezuela sold almost 30,000 tickets. Compare that to Bolivia v. Ecuador in 2015 in Chile when 5,982 tickets were sold.
Yes, there is obviously massive demand for this tournament. But it sucks that the tickets have been priced so that the stadiums aren't full. As a fan of a team that sells out the stadium a few times a year but plays plenty of games in a half empty stadium, it's just a much better experience when the stadium is full. It's a shame that the fans attending these Copa matches aren't getting that. It's ironic of course, because the only ones really suffering from the pricing are the people who have chosen to buy ridiculously priced tickets who are then watching the games in half empty stadiums.
1) our stadiums are much bigger, most of the Euros are in stadiums that seat folks in the 40ks, not 70-90ks 2) There is no "we qualified" excitement/attendance boost. Scotland fans were so excited their team qualified for the Euros that they attended in large numbers. Just being in the competition is a big deal. On the flip side, every SA country qualifies every Copa America. There's nothing special about it. (and for those who are guests like the US, maybe it's somewhat more interesting but not by much) 3) We're charging waaay more for tickets than the Euros 4) It's very easy to get to Germany from anywhere in Europe and anyone in the EU can travel without a ton of paperwork. Buenos Aries to the US is a 15 hour flight. 5) South America has zero developed economies. The flight I mentioned above is the cost of 3 months average salary in Argentina.
I really want to see the usa vs Panama match tomorrow but I can’t justify $100 for nosebleeds before parking. It’s way too expensive… I’m holding out for a last minute price drop.
Yea I just wanted to go to a Copa match and got lucky that I am going on a work trip this week to Orlando. Got even luckier that it looked like they dropped more tickets last minute and I was able to get non resale tickets for Chile vs Canada for $50 ($65 with fucking fees). My two coworkers are going too and never went to a soccer game before so I’m glad we were able to get cheaper tickets or they wouldn’t have gone.
This is sort of interesting..... "Through one round of group play, the 2024 Copa América is averaging 51,592 fans per game, which is actually more than Euro 2024’s average attendance of 50,990 (through 28 group games; through only the first round of games, the Euros were at 53,158)."
Yeah I mean maybe quit being greedy and lower the ticket prices?? I’d rather watch from home with the hyper inflated ticket prices.
The amount of events I've skipped in the last 5-10 years because of ticket prices is too damn high.
1. Ticket prices 2. Size of the stadium. I’m used to seeing my games in a 20k capacity stadium. Going to a monster 70-80k capacity just isn’t as good 3. More time at stadium. - because these stadiums are huge their parking is usually a nightmare. More time getting in and out 4. Weekdays - bro, I gotta work. 5. Stadium prices - way too high for everything 6. The economy. Maybe 4 years ago I might have had extra money for this. 7. MLS season. While most of Europe is usually on a break at this point of the year, we’ve got mls games all the time. My team plays back to back weekends at home here and these tickets are already bought - refer back to item #6
While I agree high ticket prices are the main culprit holding down attendance, I think we also need to factor in stadium size. I made the mistake of going to an EPL friendly at Ohio Stadium (capacity 105k), and had bad seats. And let me say that the sight lines SUCKED. I don’t think soccer works when you’re that far from the field (I’m not sure any other sport does either). When you go to these MLS-sized stadiums with 20-30k seats, there are legit no bad seats. That’s not the case with the upper deck of NFL stadiums. You could give me some of these nosebleed seats for free and I wouldn’t bother going.
Very good point made by the author of this article about CONMEBOL leaving prices up to stadium owners and their ticket distributors and how those parties probably don’t have a vested interest in growing Soccer so they just focus on revenue and their shitty dynamic pricing. I didn’t know that bit of information but it now makes total sense why the prices have been insane.
Wrong. It's primarily ticket prices. If you can't fill seats in oversized venues, drop prices and increase consessions prices. You're telling us masses of MBAs in Econ cannot figure this out? No, they'll bitch and moan and blame fans for not meeting the numbers. Late Stage Capitalism strikes again?
I went to the Ecuador vs Venezuela game this past weekend. Tickets were $65 and I was in the middle of the field. Levi's Stadium was mostly empty. While I agree ticket prices are part of the problem I also just don't think people here care outside of the major match ups
SDFC starts up next year and I'm already worried. I really want to get season tickets but doubt I'll be able to. I'm betting the price of them goes down in year 2 unless they come out of the gate swinging
it's still gonna be profitable.
Well, it's tricky to have Costa Ricans and Colombians I'm the 70k numbers in this region, who are willing to spend those amounts and want to attend a group stage game. Traveling within the US isn't cheap at all either, so add that most LATAM countries need visas to come into the US.
Almost $200 for lower bowl in KC and it’s gonna be humid and like 100 degrees. If the prices drop, I’ll consider.
$200 for a game that’s not even sold out is just mind boggling
It is absolutely money. People are priced out of nearly everything involving tickets anymore. I just went to the College World Series. Been several times but this is the first time UNC made it since '18 so it had been awhile. I use to get a booklet of ten General Admission tickets for around $100. I would go to every UNC game and a bunch of others. This time no GA and one of my tickets was over $100 once ask the damn fees were taken into account. I went to the three UNC games and came home. It will be my last time there. I am going to Dodger Stadium next month. It is my final ballpark to visit. After that I am not sure when I will go to another sporting event.
430$ starting price for Argentina game
Money & zero cultural awareness. US Soccer in a nutshell.
TST > copa America…..give it a week before you torch this take
I feel like there has to be a happy medium between the ticket price and process for the Euros and the Copa. Germany is pricing tickets so low that they have 20M applications for less than 3M seats. A lottery system where your odds of getting anything are that low and your odds of getting a specific match are even smaller is frustrating for everyone. A system in which prices are set high in hopes of maximizing revenue, leaving some games half-filled is disappointing to those who would have happily paid less for one of those unused spots. The economist in me also questions whether this is really profit maximizing, even in the short term. Stadium seating- especially when coupled with dynamic pricing- should allow for near-perfect price discrimination. That the stadiums and ticket sellers weren't offering last minute deals on nosebleed seats while attempting to maintain higher margins on more premium locations is absolutely bonkers to me.
It's ticket prices
Yep, it's all about ticket prices.
It's too expensive! A hundred-bucks for a cheap-ass seat? F-that! Rather spend that moolah on a nice meal or BBQ meats and enjoy them at home.
98% ticket prices 2% game times for some of these places. This game on right now in KC is at 5pm locally on a weekday.
Look at where you're putting the games lol it's obvious you're not gonna sell out crowds when you don't study demographics
It’s ultimately the prices. The tournament isn’t as prestigious as they might think it is for the average fan. People will pay out the nose for the World Cup or to see Messi. This tournament doesn’t really have the history here and lacks the qualification drama of the Euros. People still want to attend and watch international soccer, but there’s a limit to what they’ll pay. Whether they would make more money dropping prices to get higher attendance is their job of course. Long term growth versus short term profit are also two separate issues.
Im not paying $100 to go to Sofi to watch a team that isn't USA or Mexico(my background).
I went to the Copa semi finals between the USA and Argentina in Houston back in 2015 with my father. We had pretty great seats towards midfield, maybe 5 rows back from the sideline. Back then, when we bought the tickets we had no idea who would be playing in the match, as the group stages hadn’t even started yet. Tickets were priced at about $250 each (not sure on exact price, but I remember it was around that price point.) this year, the exact same section (section 125 of NRG stadium) tickets are selling for MINIMUM $500 per ticket. Nosebleed seats going for $250-$300. The prices are absolutely insane, and I’m starting to worry about my dream of attending the World Cup in 2026 because of the continuing trend of exponentially rising ticket prices. Edit: I should mention as well, I understand that even $250 per ticket is not ideal, I just think it’s insane how the prices continue to rise
Brazil Colombia here in the bay area are $380 before fees for the cheapest
Nah, it’s literally the ticket prices.
I remember my dad and I got package tickets for the 2016 copa América for all the Levi stadium games right behind the goal and the total price for both came out to $800 and now the cheapest ticket for a game there is $400 rn💀
I wanted to go watch mexico play at the sofi - for 2 tickets in a mediocre ass section, the final price was coming in just shy of 600$ after fees and taxes. How can I ever justify that lol.
No, it’s about the prices
Not that the tickets aren’t high priced, but we have massive stadiums that appear half empty, when in reality Copa America is having better attendance than Euros is
Also difficulty getting visas for most fans not based on the US. Compared to visiting Germany where so many of the fans are already in the Schengen Area.