FIFA’s $60 World Cup Tickets Come With a Major Catch

After weeks of outrage over expensive tickets to the World Cup in the United States next summer, FIFA said it had a solution: a small percentage of $60 tickets for fans of each country.

Only a smaller percentage of American fans have access to those tickets, and even then, those prices are not guaranteed.

Each Participating Member Association (PMA), such as U.S. Soccer, would see 10% of its overall tickets in the new Supporter Entry Tier. That means each team’s fans would get about 500 of the $60 tickets for the matches their country is playing in.

Earlier this week, U.S. Soccer sent an email to its “Insiders” with links and codes to apply for World Cup tickets on FIFA’s official ticketing platform. Those links did not lead to the coveted $60 tickets, and fans posted online in frustration and confusion. “So FIFA lied again, there’s no ‘discounted’ tickets they promised to give the federation. Absolute joke,” said one Reddit user.

The $60 tickets do exist, but they’re only available to an even smaller subset of fans. A spokesperson for U.S. Soccer confirmed to Front Office Sports that only members of its three official supporters groups, American Outlaws, Barra 76, and Sammers, will have access to its allotment of $60 tickets.

There are two concurrent draws at play: one for the $60 price level that is only open to the official supporters groups, and one for U.S. Soccer “Insiders.” Members of the American Outlaws, Barra 76, and Sammers are automatically entered into both draws.

Like most things with World Cup tickets, the process is a bit complicated. All fans, regardless of their membership in a supporters group, are now applying for tickets on a screen that doesn’t list the $60 option. For some matches, like the U.S. vs. Australia, the cheapest tickets are listed at $265. For others, like the team’s tournament opener against Paraguay, the lowest ticket is listed at $1,120. FIFA has already indicated that tickets for PMAs will be excluded from dynamic pricing.

Next month, the Supporters draw will happen first, selecting which fans from among the three supporters groups will get access to the coveted $60 tickets. After that comes the wider draw for U.S. Soccer “Insiders,” which has its own hierarchies. Any remaining $60 tickets will first go to supporters group members who were passed over in the first round and are paying “Insiders.” Otherwise, fans will be selected (or not) and automatically charged by FIFA for the seats they requested.

For example, fans from the American Outlaws, Barra 76, and Sammers could enter their name by selecting more expensive tickets, hope they’ll get bumped down to $60, then be passed over and charged for the higher price.

The American Outlaws is by far the largest of the three groups; its website says it has 30,000 members and 200 chapters worldwide. Barra 76 has several chapters across the U.S., while Sammers pays homage to the Sam’s Army, the now-defunct unofficial supporters group of the Men’s National Team.