The 2026 FIFA World Cup Fan Festivals sparked outrage online for charging fans for tickets for the first time in tournament history.
The change is notable, but it’s not clear how widespread it is.
So far, only one of the tournament’s 16 host committees has said it will definitely charge tickets for Fan Fest. That organizer is New York/New Jersey, which is selling tickets for $10, or $12.50 with fees, for entry into two of its three organized fan events.
Overall, seven of the hosts have committed one way or the other: New York/New Jersey will charge, while Kansas City, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Vancouver, and Toronto have all said their Fan Fests will be free.
But most of the host committees are still question marks: The other nine have not confirmed whether they’ll stay in line with tradition or charge fans.
Up until this tournament, Fan Fests, which are official FIFA events put on by local host committees, have historically been free. Since the first FIFA-sanctioned fan fests at the 2006 men’s World Cup in Germany, millions of fans in host cities have gathered each tournament in plazas, beaches, and parks for lively watch parties away from the stadium. A FIFA spokesperson declined to answer whether the global governing body had mandated they be free in the past, or if that had just become the norm.
“Discussions around the FIFA Fan Festival reflect the diversity of each Host City, taking into account factors such as geographic footprint, existing infrastructure, community priorities and operational realities,” the FIFA spokesperson said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “As a result, approaches and formats may vary from city to city.”
The Fan Fests underscore a wider issue between FIFA and the host committees at this summer’s men’s World Cup, which is that the governing body requires that local organizers shoulder heavy costs while limiting opportunities to make that money back, such as selling sponsorships at stadiums. Host committees petitioned for hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from federal and local governments to help with security costs, and in one extreme case, the San Francisco 49ers have promised to cover any deficit the Bay Area Host Committee cannot make up. In response to concerns about Fan Fests, FIFA loosened its rules around what it will require from each host’s fan event, and several have already scaled back how many days their events will run. In some cities, it’s estimated that running a Fan Fest will cost about $1 million per day. “We’re not looking to put undue financial burden on anyone,” FIFA exec Amy Hopfinger said last summer.
FIFA’s public host city agreement with Seattle, for example, says it is “intended” that the Fan Fest will be free to spectators. The New York/New Jersey contract said the host committee can collect revenue from the Fan Fest, and its spokesperson tells FOS that its ticketing plan received FIFA approval.
The New York/New Jersey organizing committee insists that its policy is intended to anticipate attendance levels for crowd management and will not be a major revenue driver.
Organizers in Boston tell FOS they’re hoping not to charge. Three hosts—L.A., the San Francisco Bay Area, and Dallas—said they could not answer questions about pricing because their Fan Fest announcements are still in the works. The remaining cities—Seattle, Miami, Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey—did not respond, and it’s not clear whether they will charge.
Here’s what we know about every Fan Fest and how much they’ll cost.
New York/New Jersey Takes the Plunge
New York/New Jersey has three major sites planned: the main Fan Fest in Liberty Park in Jersey City, the Fan Zone at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens (the site of the US Open), and the Fan Village at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. The Jersey City and Queens events will both require purchasing tickets, which a spokesperson for the host committee tells FOS was approved by FIFA.
All funds from the tickets will be put back into the event, the spokesperson says. Fans will have to purchase a new ticket for each day they attend.
“These spaces are essential to the World Cup experience, creating accessible and affordable places for people to come together and experience the biggest games in one of the world’s most iconic venues,” host committee CEO Alex Lasry said in a statement.
The Fan Fest at Liberty Park will run from the tournament’s opening on June 11 through its close on July 19, the host committee website says. MetLife Stadium in New Jersey—which will officially be called New York New Jersey Stadium during the tournament because of FIFA rules around sponsor exclusivity—will host five group-stage matches, two knockout games, and the tournament final.
The spokesperson says an estimated 50,000 people can attend the event on a given day, meaning one day alone could produce up to $500,000 in ticket sales. In Queens, Louis Armstrong Stadium, which seats about 14,000, will host watch parties for 12 days in June.
It’s too early to tell what demand will realistically look like for these events, but roughly speaking, the host committee should make several million dollars from its $10 tickets.
Keeping It Free
Kansas City’s event at the National WWI Museum and Memorial, Houston’s 34-day party in East Downtown, Atlanta’s 20-day celebration at Centennial Park, Philadelphia’s festival in East Fairmount Park, Toronto’s event at Fort York and The Bentway, and Vancouver’s tournament-long gathering in Hastings Park are all set to be free to the public.
Several of the host cities, like Kansas City, Atlanta, and Vancouver, are planning to add paid premium tiers for fans attending the event, but their main tickets will be free.
Boston organizers have been holding out for $10 million in state funds to determine the scale of their Fan Fest. A spokesperson for the host committee tells FOS the group will have more information to share about the event “in the coming weeks,” but “it is not our intention to charge entry fees.”
Still Figuring Things Out
A spokesperson for the L.A. host committee tells FOS the group has “not announced yet and will roll out the plan later this month,” while dodging a question about pricing.
Dallas echoed a similar sentiment: “It is true that our plan is to have it in Fair Park in Dallas, but we will be going over more details about that once we make our official and full announcement,” said a spokesperson for their host committee.
In the Bay Area, things are a bit more complicated. In December’s World Cup draw, San Francisco didn’t receive any of the top-tier teams for its group-stage matches. Its group-stage matches will feature Qatar, Switzerland, Austria, Jordan, Paraguay, Algeria, Australia, and one team still to qualify in this spring’s playoff. Organizers are reportedly considering scaling back their Fan Fest offerings after some ticket prices fell, according to The Athletic.
“The Bay Area Host Committee is incredibly excited to welcome the World Cup to the Bay Area this summer, and we are actively planning fan and community experiences that ensure the region can take part in the event,” a spokesperson for the Bay Area Host Committee said in a statement. “Now that we have more information about our matches, we are tailoring our activations accordingly.”
Waiting for Answers
Questions to organizers in Miami, Seattle, and the three host cities in Mexico went unanswered. From what information exists about each city’s plans online, it’s not entirely clear whether the host committees will charge fans for tickets.
Publicly released contracts with Miami-Dade County show organizers had intended for the Fan Fest to be free, but the host committee hasn’t specified in an official announcement. A post on the Seattle committee’s website from March contains details about a free fan celebration that is “not a FIFA event,” but the group did not answer questions about whether its official Fan Fest will be free.
