Only 13,000 tickets sold for England warm-up in 69,000-seater stadium | Football | Sport
England could face New Zealand in front of 50,000 empty seats as organisers battle to shift tickets for their match next week. The Three Lions will meet New Zealand at the 69,000-capacity Raymond James Stadium on June 6 in Tampa, but currently, just 1,500 official England Supporters Travel Club members are expected to attend as the cost of the World Cup sees fans staying away.
Just 13,000 tickets have been sold so far for the fixture, which takes place at the home of the NFL franchise Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The most affordable tickets have been priced at a reasonably modest £54, but the overall expense of the tournament appears to be having an impact.
The Times claim that the FA acknowledges that the price of attending the World Cup across North America has skyrocketed, with supporters selecting their fixtures carefully or choosing not to travel whatsoever.
It is understood that English football’s governing body is unsurprised that the third-party operator contracted to sell the tickets in Florida is finding it difficult to shift them. They had anticipated attracting England supporters residing in the state alongside those making the journey, but that has failed to materialise.
England’s second warm-up fixture in Orlando pits them against Costa Rica, and the match is on track to attract close to a full house when it gets underway at the 25,500-capacity InterandCo Stadium.
Florida is home to one of the largest and most rapidly expanding Costa Rican communities in America, representing approximately 16 per cent of the country’s entire population, and a significant proportion of tickets have already been purchased.
Thomas Tuchel’s squad begin their tournament proper against Croatia on June 17, before facing Ghana and Panama. FIFA say that, of the six million tickets on offer for the 104 fixtures, around five million have been sold.
Football’s governing body is now facing an uncomfortable investigation into their ticket pricing, the methods by which they have been purchased and subsequently resold.
Officials in New York and New Jersey are examining the so-called ‘dynamic pricing’, which has left supporters having to pay eye-watering sums.
The most affordable tickets for England’s opening fixture against Croatia in Texas were listed at £628 on FIFA’s resale platform in April.
Official action is now being pursued against FIFA following reports that supporters were misled regarding the category of ticket they were purchasing, with others failing to receive the category they believed they had bought.
