The 2026 soccer tournament, which will be hosted in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, has seen astronomical ticket prices.
WASHINGTON — New York and New Jersey have subpoenaed FIFA as part of an investigation into its ticketing practices for the 2026 World Cup.
The 2026 soccer tournament, which will be hosted in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, has seen astronomical ticket prices, with a seat at the July 19 final costing as much as $32,970. New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced their subpoena Wednesday, claiming fans have been misled about seat maps, particularly in the MetLife Stadium where eight matches will be played.
“New Yorkers have been waiting years for the World Cup to come to their backyard, and they deserve a fair shot at affordable tickets,” Attorney General James said in a statement. “No one should be manipulated into paying sky-high prices for seats, and fans should be able to trust that the tickets they purchase will be the ones they receive. I thank Attorney General Davenport for joining this effort to get answers from FIFA and protect our states’ consumers.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino previously defended the World Cup ticket pricing, saying it is “market-driven.”
“We have to look at the market. We are in a market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world, so we have to apply market rates,” he said earlier in May at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California. “In the U.S. it is permitted to resell tickets, as well, so if you were to sell tickets at the price which is too low, these tickets will be resold at a much higher price. And as a matter of fact, even though some people are saying that the ticket prices we have are high, they still end up on the resale market at an even higher price, more than double of our price.”
FIFA does not control the asking prices on its Resale/Exchange Marketplace but takes a 15% purchase fee from the buyer of each ticket and a 15% resale fee from the seller.
“Being honest about ticket sales is not complicated. But FIFA has turned buying a ticket to the World Cup into a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity, and impossibly high prices – all at the expense of consumers and hardworking New Jerseyans,” Attorney General Davenport said Wednesday. “We are committed to conducting a thorough investigation of FIFA’s conduct, and we are proud to stand together with Attorney General James in protecting our consumers. It’s an honor to host the World Cup, but the event is not an invitation to exploit our residents and visitors.”
According to the attorney generals, the investigation will focus on the ticketing process and seat maps. Fans have been reportedly misled about seat locations as FIFA divided stadium seats into four categories for its initial sales but then added “Front categories,” with the most desirable seats, that cost more money,
Aside from seats, the investigations will also look into the high prices, which have exceeded any previous World Cup tournament. FIFA relied on dynamic pricing for this year’s tournament, releasing tickets in phases over the last few months and quietly raising the prices of tickets.
The Athletic reported in April that between October 2025 and April 2026, FIFA raised ticket prices for more than 90 of the 104 World Cup matches, with prices for the three main ticket categories rising an average of 34%.
The investigation also comes as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a lottery for 1,000 $50 World Cup tickets to New York City residents.
The $50 tickets don’t come directly from FIFA, but from those allotted to New York and New Jersey’s joint host committee for the games, according to the mayor’s office.
About 150 tickets per game will be made available for seven of the eight matches played at the roughly 82,000-seat MetLife Stadium, located across the river from Manhattan in New Jersey. The lone exception is the high demand July 19 final, where some seats now cost nearly $33,000.
The tickets will also include free roundtrip bus transportation to the stadium for the ticket holders, the mayor said. Mamdani also warned that the city will take measures to prevent scalping and resellers.
“We are making sure that working people will not be priced out of the game that they helped to create,” Mamdani said.
Aside from exorbitant ticket prices, fans are also reeling from expensive flights, high hotel costs and even transportation. , Fans have been outraged to discover that getting to some stadiums via rail will come with another hefty bill: $98 round-trip train fares in New Jersey and $80 in Massachusetts — trips that normally cost NFL fans $12.90 and $20, respectively.
The relatively high transit costs for the matches at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts are partly because they’re in the suburbs, and many fans drive to the NFL games they typically host. But parking will be extremely limited during the World Cup due to expanded security perimeters, broadcast needs and lots being used as VIP areas, forcing far more fans to use public transit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.