KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.
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As excitement continues to build for FIFA World Cup 26 next summer at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, the ways to snag a ticket to the world’s largest sporting event are beginning to come into focus, starting with a presale for Visa cardholders.
The Coughlin family in Overland Park is pumped for the chance to see World Cup soccer a short drive from their home.
“Definitely my son, for sure,” Jennifer Coughlin said Wednesday as the family visited Union Station. “He's our all-sports lover, but definitely soccer is his jam.”
Ellis Coughlin and his sister, Kemper, don’t have much of an opinion on the price point for World Cup tickets, but they would love to attend a match.
“That would be really cool,” Ellis said. “I play soccer, so I always like watching it, too. ... I’ve been playing since I was 3 (years old).”
Kemper chimed in: “I’m excited, and I play soccer, too.”
Kansas City will host six World Cup games, including a quarterfinal, but the ticketing process is much different from what fans are used to for a Chiefs or Royals game — perhaps even downright confusing.
When premium ticket packages went on sale in April, the prices were jarring — $1,225 to $3,000 per ticket, through OnLocation — for budget-conscious families. But those tickets are primarily geared toward corporate buyers and fans seeking a high-end, all-inclusive experience.
“I've got a wife and kids and we've talked a bunch about (how) this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, especially being able to drive to it,” Brendan Cossette, a soccer fan from Columbia, Missouri, said. “But at the same time, like everything else, there's a line where going to see Australia play Croatia — OK, that's cool, but it's not $8,000-a-ticket cool. ... I've heard all kinds of rumors that they're extraordinarily expensive.”
Fortunately, for Cossette and the Coughlins, those rumors don’t have much merit.
FIFA announced Sept. 3 that tickets for the group stage would start at $60, which puts them in line with ticket prices for Sporting Kansas City’s game against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami FC, an April 2024 game at Arrowhead that drew more than 70,000 fans.
Tickets for those games started at $50 for end-zone seats in the upper deck, up to $240 for seats along the sideline in the lower bowl. Club tickets cost $360 to $480 for the Messi game.
There were nine ticket-price levels for that game, but may be as few as four for World Cup matches, so prices may be slightly higher or lower than they were for Sporting KC-Inter Miami, which drew the largest crowd for a soccer game in Missouri history.
“That's no more expensive than you're gonna pay to go to a Chiefs game, so I think that's reasonable, especially for a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Cossette said.
The Coughlin family also welcomed the news.
“We're trying to get to a lot of games, a lot of different sports this season,” Jennifer Coughlin said. “... We’re probably looking at lower price, higher seating.”
It doesn’t matter to Ellis Coughlin; any World Cup game in his hometown would be a thrill.
“I just like seeing good soccer,” Ellis said.
Soccer doesn’t get better than the World Cup.
The Visa presale draw is the first phase of sales to the general public.
Registration ends on Sept. 19, and fans selected by lottery will be notified beginning Sept. 29 ahead of the Oct. 1 presale. Tickets during that presale must be purchased with the Visa credit or debit card provided when signing up.
A second early draw, which is expected to include fans who previously bought right-to-buy options through FIFA, will take place Oct. 27-31, with another draw slated for mid-December after the tournament’s final draw takes place Dec. 5.
That phase of ticket sales will be the first when buyers know what teams will be playing in the group-stage matches.
During the October phase, tickets will be sold, but the opponents for the games won’t yet be known.
Any remaining tickets will go on sale next spring, closer to the games being played.
Tickets to all 104 games — including matches in Canada and Mexico, up to and including the World Cup final — will be available during the presales.
However, fans can buy tickets to all matches at a venue, including Arrowhead, or for a particular team, including the U.S. Men’s National Team.
Initial ticket limits will be four per game and 20 overall, per FIFA.
The website to register for the Visa presale crashed at various times Wednesday, but FIFA stressed that fans can register at any time until Sept. 19 and have the same chance of being selected.
“As we expected, demand for tickets to the FIFA World Cup 26 is extraordinary,” FIFA said in a statement to KSHB 41 News. “We were experiencing initial extended wait times as the registration period opened. Importantly, timing of a fan’s entry into the Visa Presale Draw will not impact the fan’s chances of success — everyone who registers during the entry period, which is open until 11 a.m. ET on Sept. 19, will have the same likelihood of being selected to have the opportunity to purchase tickets.”
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