Get-in prices for the World Cup final have risen 16% over the past three days to $7,790 per ticket, according to TicketData.
That proves a considerable demand surrounding an Argentina-Spain final, which is likely to be Lionel Messi’s final World Cup appearance. But the market has not surged as sharply as it might have had England won yesterday’s semifinal match.
Before the match, get-in ticket prices for the July 19 final were around $7,300, according to TicketData. Immediately after Argentina’s win over England, prices rose roughly 5% before falling to about 3% above the pre-match price.
Keith Pagello, founder of TicketData, said an England win likely would have driven a larger increase because of its nearly 60-year World Cup title drought and the relative ease of last minute travel from England to New York.
None of the semifinalists, though, would have produced a weak ticket market, Pagello said in a statement to Front Office Sports. Argentina, England, France, and Spain all have large international followings capable of driving strong demand.
“It was really a question of which teams would drive the most demand, rather than whether any particular matchup would be weak,” he said.
Pagello saw less of a distinction between the demand France or Spain would generate. “That said, the early indication is that Spanish supporters are not necessarily flooding into the market [yet],” he added.
Argentina has something none of the other semifinalists could offer: what is likely Messi’s last World Cup appearance.
“Messi alone can increase ticket prices in a way that almost no other player in any sport can,” Pagello said. “There will be people attending this final who are not supporters of Argentina or Spain, but who are buying tickets solely for the opportunity to see Messi in what is likely his final World Cup match.”
That star power, however, could be offset by the difficulty of reaching New York from Argentina on short notice. There are far fewer nonstop flights from Buenos Aires to New York than from London, making last-minute trips more difficult for Argentina fans.
“That bottleneck for last-minute travel from Argentina, versus the abundance of options from England, has a real effect on the ticket market for an event like this,” Pagello said.
England’s round of 16, quarterfinal, and semifinal matches were each the most expensive game in their respective rounds, according to Pagello.
“It is impossible to say for certain, and by how much, prices would have gone up had England won,” he said. “But I would have expected a more significant immediate increase than the roughly 5% bump we saw following Argentina’s victory.”
Spain and Argentina will face off on Sunday, July 19 at New York New Jersey Stadium for a chance to win the world title.
