FIFA’s foray into dynamic pricing may be backfiring by keeping actual fans out of the World Cup—and sending some prices lower as backlash hits demand

Last week, the New York and New Jersey attorneys general announced an investigation into FIFA’s ticketing practices ahead of the 2026 World Cup. New York’s Letitia James and New Jersey’s Jennifer Davenport said in a Wednesday news release that the probe will look into “a range of issues that have arisen with FIFA’s ticketing process,” citing reports that allege exorbitant ticket costs, fans being misled about the location of their seats, and staggered ticket sales to create inflated demand that allowed FIFA to hike prices. “New Yorkers have been waiting years for the World Cup to come to their backyard, and they deserve a fair shot at affordable tickets,” James said in a statement. A chance to view the final match on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey may set fans back nearly $33,000, with seats on the resale market touching $2 million. How did the World Cup get so expensive? The 2026 World Cup isn’t just unique because it’s the first to be spread out across 16 cities in three countries. The U.S.—with its 11 cities playing host to 78 of the event’s 104 matches—also has a loose regulatory framework that has allowed FIFA to use dynamic pricing on its ticket sales for the first time. This pricing model uses an automated system to algorithmically adjust ticket prices based on demand, a common practice across sporting and entertainment events in the U.S. While it may allow some fans to purchase cheap last-minute tickets if there are still empty seats available, dynamic pricing often means more expensive tickets. Dynamic pricing exploded in sports when the San Francisco Giants pioneered the practice in 2009, leading rest of MLB, the NHL, and NBA to follow a few years later. The Giants used an algorithm created by the company qcue that used 20 variables to determine the cost of some tickets, with a starting range of $7 to $30 that moved in 50 cent-increments depending on demand. Prices for NFL and MLB tickets rose an average of about 300% between 1991 and 2023,