Want last-minute World Cup tickets? Why Bay Area’s are among least expensive
For all the talk of the high ticket prices to attend a World Cup match throughout the country in the coming weeks, the same trend is not continuing in the Bay Area.
The five group-stage matches at Levi’s Stadium — which is being called the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium for the event — are accessible for prices similar to a regular-season NFL or NBA game.
As of Tuesday, four days before the first of six total games set to be played at Levi’s Stadium, in which Qatar will face Switzerland, tickets started at $370 among the 302 listings on second-hand retailer StubHub. On FIFA’s own resale website, tickets start at $230, well below the $380 listing price for face-value tickets on FIFA’s general ticketing platform.
Prices are similar for all five of the group-stage matches in Santa Clara, with the lowest being tickets for Jordan vs. Algeria on June 22 going for $172 on StubHub. That matchup takes place 8 p.m. Pacific.
Why so cheap?
A number of factors could be at play, perhaps starting with the draw.
Per FIFA’s team rankings, Switzerland, ranked No. 19, is the best team playing in the Bay Area throughout the group stage. The others: Qatar (57), Austria (24), Jordan (63), Turkey (22), Paraguay (41), Algeria (28) and Australia (27). And none of ESPN’s top 50 players are on those teams.
None of the tournament’s betting favorites like Spain, Argentina, France, England, Portugal or Brazil are slated to play at Levi’s Stadium.
There are also travel costs. Airline prices have jumped some 20% to 25% because of fuel costs amid the war in Iran. There’s also the White House’s stringent immigration policies, which could be making traveling to the United States more difficult, particularly for the 39 countries given travel bans. All are possible explanations as to why the interest in the Bay Area has been subdued.
However, the United States could play at Levi’s Stadium in the Round of 32 on July 1, should the U.S. Men’s National Team win Group D. The home nation is the betting favorite to win its group featuring Australia, Paraguay and Turkey. Tickets for that game are starting at $870 on StubHub, despite the participating teams being unknown at this time.
Bay Area tickets far cheaper than LA’s
Compare the Bay Area prices to SoFi Stadium roughly 400 miles south, in Los Angeles County. The U.S. is opening its World Cup action Friday against Paraguay, with the cheapest of the 550 listings being $965 per ticket, with four seats in the 10th row going for $20,703. However, other games featuring smaller countries and lower-ranked teams showed similar prices to those at Levi’s Stadium, like Iran vs. New Zealand and Switzerland vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina.
SoFi Stadium is also hosting two games in the Round of 32 and one in the quarterfinals. One Round of 32 match will feature the winner of Group H, which could be Spain, one of the top teams in the tournament, with ticket prices starting at $950. The other will feature the second place teams in the A and B groups.
The get-in price for the quarterfinal game July 10 is $1,742.
