A ticket for the 2026 World Cup final has reportedly fetched as much as $2m, highlighting how FIFA’s pricing approach is turning into a lucrative, and contentious, revenue stream. Former Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore says dynamic pricing and a 30% cut on resale sales have priced many supporters out, even as FIFA projects billions from ticketing and hospitality.

Former Liverpool CEO slams pricing model

Peter Moore, 71, who led Liverpool FC between 2017 and 2020, said the decision to allow dynamic pricing has turned football’s flagship event into something that feels "dystopian". Speaking from his home in Santa Barbara, California, Moore criticised FIFA for what he called "extortionate" ticket prices and for taking a share of secondary-market gains.

"Dynamic pricing doesn’t belong in the World Cup and football," Moore said. "It works with music, but for the World Cup, there are hundreds of thousands of people booking trips in advance. They’re asking themselves, 'Do we want to visit and pay $2,000 for a third-tier game?' And FIFA taking a 30 percent cut of dynamic pricing is outrageous."

He added that the secondary market has encouraged automated systems and speculators to harvest tickets rather than genuine supporters.

Moore said: "Now, tickets are in the hands of bots and speculators, who don’t intend to go to games. They're harvesting tickets and hoping they can sell them in the next six to eight weeks, and I don’t see that happening."

Numbers and mechanisms behind the surge

Organisers and commercial partners have leaned on modern pricing tools to extract higher revenue from demand spikes. FIFA has signalled how valuable the event is: the governing body expects to gross $3bn from ticketing and hospitality sales alone, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said World Cup revenues could exceed $11bn overall.

The mechanism at issue is dynamic pricing, which lets organisers raise or lower prices in real time according to demand. That model is common in music and airline ticketing, where events and seats are sold individually and buyers aren't typically planning months-long travel arrangements. The World Cup differs because fans usually commit to flights, hotels and visas well in advance, making sudden price shifts more disruptive.

Who is affected — and how?

  • Higher overall costs: Ticket price increases add to flights, accommodation and local travel, shifting attendance toward those with greater spending power.
  • Scarcity and resale risk: Large purchases by speculators can create shortages and inflated resale prices for genuine supporters.
  • Reputational impact: Reports of empty seats at some US venues could harm atmosphere and broadcaster/sponsor expectations.
  • Change in crowd makeup: Moore warned that a more corporate or less socio-economically diverse crowd could alter the tournament’s identity as "the world’s game."

Barriers beyond price

Price isn't the only hurdle. The rollout of the tournament in the United States has produced uneven access. Travel bans dating from the previous US administration mean fans from some participating countries face extra hurdles; Ivory Coast, Haiti, Iran and Senegal are cited as examples.

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Even as FIFA projects $3bn from ticketing and hospitality alone, former Liverpool CEO Peter Moore says the combination of dynamic pricing and a 30% resale cut has effectively priced many fans out of the tournament.

This article was created with AI assistance.