The World Cup in Qatar is the most expensive in history, also for ticket buyers

by time news

Those who watch the World Cup games may have noticed a strange phenomenon: the organizers who publish the numbers of spectators in each game present data that exceed the official number of seats in the stadium. In other words, apparently the occupancy exceeded 100% – although in practice it was hard not to notice many empty seats in the stands, especially in the less attractive games.

For example, the official number of spectators in the match between Ecuador and Qatar at Al-Bayt Stadium in Doha was 67,372, although according to FIFA data the stadium has only 60,000 seats. And so it continued – in the match between England and Iran at Al-Khalifa Stadium, there were 45,334 spectators even though the stadium only holds 40,000 seats. On the third day of the games, FIFA strangely rushed to update the capacity of the stadiums, and they increased overnight by 10% or more.

The incomplete occupancy in the stadiums raises the question where is the crowd? Maybe these are the drastically increased ticket prices? The World Cup in Qatar is the most expensive in its production ($220 billion), but also the most expensive in the history of the World Cup for the fans who come to watch it. The prices of the official tickets for the games are almost 40% higher compared to those sold four years ago at the World Cup in Russia, according to a test carried out by the Keller Sports company. According to the test, the average ticket for a match in Russia 2018 was £214, and in the current World Cup it was £286. An average ticket for the final in Qatar, according to the survey, will cost £684 – 59% higher than the price paid in Russia four years ago. However, more than 3 million tickets were sold for the tournament.

How much did the departure from “classic” Europe make the World Cup more expensive for fans? The 2006 World Cup in Germany is considered to be the last time soccer was made possible for all populations, when the average ticket price for that tournament was 100 pounds (a third of today’s price) and the average ticket for the final in Berlin was sold for 221 pounds.

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