England face the prospect of playing their World Cup warm-up matches in Tampa inside a less than half-full stadium as organizers struggle to unload tickets amid financial pressure on fans.
England vs New Zealand World Cup warm-up match to be played in front of limited fans
England could play their World Cup pre-game against New Zealand in front of 50,000 empty seats as organizers struggle to sell tickets for next week’s match.
The Three Lions face New Zealand at Tampa’s 69,000-seat Raymond James Stadium on June 6, but the cost of the World Cup has led to fans turning away, with only 1,500 official members of the England Supporters Travel Club set to attend.
Only 13,000 tickets are currently available for the game, which will be played at the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Although the cheapest ticket price is quite reasonable at £54, the overall cost of the tournament seems to be taking its toll.
The Times reported that the FA has acknowledged that the cost of attending the World Cup is rising across North America, with fans opting to not attend matches or not travel at all.
It is understood that England football’s governing body is not surprised that third-party vendors hired to sell tickets in Florida are struggling to unload tickets. They had hoped to attract England fans living in the state as well as traveling England fans, but that didn’t happen.
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England’s second warm-up game in Orlando is against Costa Rica, which is expected to be a near-full house by the time kick-off at the 25,500-seat Inter&Co Stadium. Florida has one of the largest and fastest growing populations of Costa Ricans in the United States, making up about 16 percent of the country’s total population, and the majority of tickets are reserved.
Thomas Tuchel’s side will start the tournament against Croatia on June 17, before facing Ghana and Panama. FIFA reported that about 5 million of the 6 million tickets for the 104 matches were sold out.
England could warm up in front of a half-empty stadium (Image: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
Soccer’s governing body is facing unsavory scrutiny over ticket prices, how tickets are purchased and how they are then resold. Authorities in New York and New Jersey are investigating so-called “dynamic pricing” that forced fans to pay huge sums of money.
The cheapest ticket for England’s opening match against Croatia in Texas was sold on FIFA’s resale platform in April for $898 (£628).
Formal action is now being taken against FIFA following reports that fans were misled about the category of tickets they were purchasing and others did not receive the category they thought they were purchasing.
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