England could face New Zealand in front of 50,000 empty seats as organizers scramble to change tickets for next week’s match. The Three Lions face New Zealand on June 6 at Tampa’s 69,000-capacity Raymond James Stadium, but with World Cup costs keeping fans away, only 1,500 official members of the England Supporters Travel Club are currently expected to attend.
Only 13,000 tickets have been sold so far for the game, which will be played at the home of NFL franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The most affordable ticket price is quite modest at £54, but this seems to be due to the overall tournament spend.
The Times claims the FA has acknowledged the rising costs of attending the World Cup across North America, with supporters choosing matches carefully or opting not to travel at all.
It is understood that English football’s governing body is not surprised that third-party operators contracted to sell tickets in Florida are finding it difficult to change tickets. They had hoped to attract England supporters living in the state along with those traveling, but that did not happen.
England’s second preliminary match in Orlando will be against Costa Rica, which is expected to draw a near-capacity crowd when the match begins at the 25,500-capacity Interando Stadium.
Florida is home to the nation’s largest and fastest-growing Costa Rican community, making up about 16 percent of the country’s total population, and a significant percentage of tickets have already been purchased.
Thomas Tuchel’s side begin the main competition against Croatia on June 17, before facing Ghana and Panama. FIFA said about 5 million of the 6 million tickets for the 104 matches had been sold.
Football’s governing body is currently facing unsavory scrutiny over its ticket pricing and how it buys and then resells tickets.
Authorities in New York and New Jersey are investigating so-called “dynamic pricing,” where backers have to pay eye-watering amounts.
The most affordable ticket for England’s opener against Croatia in Texas was listed on FIFA’s resale platform in April for £628.
Formal action is currently being taken against FIFA following reports that supporters were misled about the category of tickets they purchased and did not receive the category that other supporters believed they had purchased.
