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Supposedly prices on the primary market are declining as we approach match days. I've checked and they seem cheaper on stubhub than in the past. I imagine there will be tickets at good prices available up to and including the days of the matches themselves.
www.thestar.com
Since it's paywalled and many won't click, NYC secured 1000 tickets at $50 which will be distributed through a lottery system to residents and was open to 50k people per day for 5 days, closing yesterday. Toronto kind of did something similar but much smaller, with a sweepstakes for 26 pairs of tickets priced as low as $26 for 5 entries.New York mayor secured $50 World Cup tickets for residents. Why didn’t Toronto do the same?
FIFA’s ticket-sale process and pricing model has frustrated fans worldwide and prompted investigations by the attorneys general in New York and New Jersey.
The Voyageurs (Canadian supporters) were also able to secure 1000 tickets at $88/each, which they said took considerable effort to attain.
I am hoping we learn from this World Cup and never again bid for the Olympics or any other global circus where the taxpayers and residents are expected to pay for much of the event, assume disruptions to transit and access, and the financial risks and liabilities, all the for the benefit of the organizers, hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops. So I don't want hear any politician suggesting we pursue the Olympics (2024 Paris Summer Olympics cost an estimated USD $9 billion), a Pam Am Games redux (2016 cost $2.5 billion, $340m over budget), Commonwealth Games (see Victoria, Oz), World Expos (Expo 2025 in Osaka cost USD $1.65 billion) or anything else that purports to put Toronto on the world stage if only we'd put up the money and cover the risks.
Which begs the question why we're spending at min 1/2 a billion $ in total city/prov/fed taxpayer funds to put it on.
Because Capital demands it.
It will literally be fine. These concerns are overblown.
Yup. The teams playing those games don't have significant diaspora populations to really draw in crowds. Sucks that it didn't end up only costing the city $30-45m like staff originally estimated years ago, and that all this transit planning is needed but would be an unforgettable disaster if they didn't and everything collapsed. For people around Fort York, at the harbourfront, or near Nathan Phillips Square it'll be noticeable but for people in Etobicoke, Scarborough, or probably even north of Bloor I bet it'll be easy to just not know it's happening.
The best games will be in the US (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, England, France and Germany), though I wonder if the threat of ICE checks/detainments will keep Latino fans of the first three away.
www.thestar.com
