It isn’t just tickets to games that FIFA World Cup fans will have to shell out for — they’ll also have to pay way more for transit to stadiums.
Gillette Stadium, the home of the New England Patriots, is hosting seven matches of the tournament, which is being held across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Fans going to games at the venue face $80 round-trip train fares for the journey to and from Boston’s South Station, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced last week.
Such tickets usually cost $20 during other events, or $8.75 on a regular day. The two rail stations are about 20 miles apart.
The Athletic also reported on Tuesday that New Jersey Transit is planning to charge $100 for a round-trip rail ticket between Penn Station and MetLife Stadium. It’s set to host eight World Cup matches, including the final.
That journey usually costs $12.90, meaning prices during the World Cup could be up to 8 times higher than during most events.
The report drew criticism from Chuck Schumer, the New York senator and Senate minority leader.
“FIFA is set to reap nearly $11 billion from this summer’s World Cup, yet New York area commuters and residents are being handed the bill,” he said in a post on X. “The least FIFA can do is ensure New York residents can go to the stadium without being gouged at the turnstile.”
Schumer also called on the sport’s governing body to cover transportation costs.
FIFA and NJ Transit did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside US working hours. An NJ Transit spokesperson told The Athletic that prices “have not been finalized.”
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The MBTA said last Thursday that it sold some 17,450 rail tickets to Gillette Stadium on the first day sales opened.
Phillip Eng, the CEO and general manager, said the “tremendous demand” showed the MBTA “needed to think outside the box to safely deliver unprecedented train service.”
With 6,200 tickets, fans attending the Haiti vs. Scotland game on June 13 broke the record for the most special-event train tickets sold for an individual event at Gillette Stadium — including Taylor Swift’s three concerts in 2023.
This year’s World Cup is the biggest one yet, as FIFA expanded it from 32 teams to 48. That has helped the debuts of countries including Uzbekistan, Cape Verde, and Jordan.
The price of tickets for games has drawn criticism from fan groups, particularly as only a small number of match tickets were originally offered at the lowest price of $60.
“In practice they were so scarce that the entire Category 4 inventory was practically sold out before general public sales opened,” said Football Supporters Europe, a fan group that advocates for affordability.
While Scotland qualified for its first World Cup in 28 years, political leaders said fans could be priced out.
The BBC found that the cheapest ticket available on FIFA’s resale platform cost $690 for the Scotland vs Haiti match, up from $400.
“Our historic return has been marred by FIFA’s dynamic pricing model that has made the trip simply unaffordable for so many loyal supporters,” Scottish First Minister John Swinney said in a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino earlier this month.
“This model has made this the most expensive World Cup in history and it is the opposite of what football, and indeed the biggest sporting occasion on the planet, should be about.”
