When “Growing the Game” Becomes a Luxury Sport
The FIFA 2026 World Cup was supposed to be our moment — finally, the world’s biggest game on home soil, inspiring a new generation of players and families. Instead, it’s shaping up to inspire something else entirely: sticker shock.
Reports suggest that tickets could soar beyond *$4,000 for top matches*, with even mid-tier seats for group games hovering near $1,000. For most families involved in U.S. youth soccer — already paying thousands annually just to play — that’s not so much “accessible family fun” as “choose between college savings or one night in Section 342.”
The irony is thick enough to need VAR review. This World Cup was marketed as a grassroots catalyst, a way to “grow the game” across American communities. But it’s hard to grow anything when only the wealthy can afford the sunlight.
The Great Pricing Disconnect
In 1994, when the World Cup last came to the U.S., tickets were relatively affordable and stadiums were jam-packed. That accessibility made a difference — it helped spark youth participation, crowd energy, and even the eventual birth of Major League Soccer.
Thirty years later, FIFA seems to have learned the wrong lesson. Instead of celebrating inclusion, it’s doubling down on exclusivity, turning the “people’s game” into a luxury brand with velvet ropes.
But there’s a plot twist brewing. Industry insiders and journalists are already whispering the possibility that FIFA may have **dramatically overplayed its hand** — again.
A Familiar Mistake: The Club World Cup Warning
You may recall the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup — also set in the U.S. Just months ago, tickets for that event were priced ambitiously… right up until the crowds didn’t show. In cities like Miami and Los Angeles, swaths of empty seats became painfully visible, and FIFA eventually had to **slash ticket prices and quietly release discount blocks** to avoid embarrassingly half-empty broadcasts.
Now, we’re staring at a possible encore performance — except this time, it’s the World Cup, not a prequel.
If FIFA ends up fire-selling tickets in early summer 2026 just to fill stadiums, it will be the ultimate irony: families who couldn’t afford to buy tickets early may end up scoring last-minute deals for a fraction of the price, while everyone who paid full freight will feel like they got nutmegged by FIFA itself.
Adding Insult to Irony
A fire sale might save the optics, but it would also expose the absurdity at the heart of FIFA’s business model — the same model that claims to champion “worldwide accessibility” while pricing out the very fans who give soccer its soul.
Imagine the optics: after two years of hype about “legacy” and “inspiration,” FIFA scrambles to put fans in the stands just to hide patches of empty seats on global TV. The symbolism writes itself — a tournament meant to unite communities instead struggling to fill them.
The Opportunity Cost to U.S. Soccer
For U.S. youth soccer families, this saga feels painfully familiar. Pay-to-play has already turned soccer opportunities into a question of resources. If even the World Cup becomes a paywall event, it sends the wrong message to the next generation: the dream is real — *if you can afford it.*
That matters because nothing replaces the thrill of *being there*. Watching Mbappé or Rodman or Messi live in person flips a switch for kids. It’s how aspirations take root. Livestreams can’t replicate that.
If FIFA truly wants to leave a legacy, it should focus less on corporate packages and more on access — subsidized tickets for youth clubs, community-based lotteries, and partnerships that actually put families in the stands.
Otherwise, this World Cup could go down as the world’s most expensive game of musical chairs — everyone wanting in, but most left standing.
Because what’s worse than a $4,000 ticket? Having to watch FIFA discount it to $200 later… just to make the stadium look full.
Ron Stitt
Co-Founder, U.S. Soccer Parent