MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
So it's Friday. You might be thinking about what you're going to do this weekend. Well, the biggest sporting event in the world is coming to North America next year. Fans are already up in arms about ticket prices for the FIFA World Cup, which are many times higher than they were for the last World Cup in 2022. Steven Goff is a soccer writer who's covered 14 World Cups. He's now a contributing writer at Yahoo Sports and he's with us now to explain all this. Steve, good morning. Thanks for joining us.
STEVEN GOFF: Good morning. Great to join you.
MARTIN: So a European soccer fan organization has described the ticket prices for next year's tournament as a monumental betrayal. That's a quote. So give us the bad news. How much will tickets cost?
GOFF: (Laughter) Well, if you want to go to a U.S. game in the group stage - we're not talking about the final or the quarter final or anything like that. You could be paying at least $1,000 for a cheap seat, you know, a undesirable seat in the upper deck.
MARTIN: For one ticket?
GOFF: For one ticket. That's the asking price right now. You know, things are going to fluctuate based on demand. But people are upset, and they should be. And initially FIFA said, you know, there'd be tickets available to some games for $60. Well, those $60 tickets, there aren't many of them. And they're in the top corner of stadiums, and they're really not available, so it's a scam.
MARTIN: So how does this compare to past World Cups, since you've covered 14 of them?
GOFF: Yeah, no, they've gone progressively up. I mean, everything's gone up, so we can start with that. And World Cup tickets are always high because it is the World Cup. But, yeah, some studies have shown that, you know, they're four or five times more than they were four years ago in Qatar. So, yeah, this is just a severe case of greed. And we'll see if these tickets stay at that amount based on demand. I mean, if people aren't buying them, ticket prices are going to have to come down. There are so many games.
MARTIN: Well, what has FIFA had to say about this?
GOFF: They don't say much. FIFA doesn't comment often on things such as this. You know, they'll point to market demand...
MARTIN: Do they have sole control over the prices?
GOFF: Yeah. This is a FIFA event. FIFA runs it. Games in this country, these are U.S. stadiums, NFL stadiums, plus Canada and Mexico. But FIFA takes over the stadiums. They run the tournament. It's their tournament. They do what they want.
MARTIN: So the World Cup draw was held a week ago here.
GOFF: Yes.
MARTIN: In the nation's capital. Any good news here about who the U.S. will face in the group stage and what are their chances to advance?
GOFF: Yeah.
MARTIN: For people who actually might be able to go.
(LAUGHTER)
GOFF: Exactly. Yeah, I mean, the U.S. got a manageable group. And what happens is all 48 teams are placed into 12 four-team groups. And so the U.S., as a host, is the top seed. And we wondered who they'd get paired with. They weren't going to get any of the big boys like Argentina or Spain or England. But, you know, there was some question who they'd get. They got Paraguay, Australia and then a playoff winner. So it's a manageable group. They should advance as one of the top two teams. And there's definitely optimism based on who they're playing.
MARTIN: And who are you most excited about?
GOFF: In the tournament? I mean, Argentina. And presumably Lionel Messi playing in his last World Cup. That's going to be exciting.
MARTIN: OK. OK.
GOFF: So we'll see.
MARTIN: That is Steve Goff. He's a soccer writer and Yahoo Sports contributor. Steve, thank you so much.
GOFF: Thanks, Michel.
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