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≡ PROTEST CANCELLATIONS? ≡
According to a Wednesday report on the Jordanian site Roya News, a modest “boycott” of the FIFA World Cup coming to Canada, Mexico and the U.S. in June has sprung up:
“around 16,800 ticketholders cancelled their World Cup tickets overnight. The cancellations stem from boycotts shared across social media; fans overseas said they are backing out over safety concerns and discomfort with the U.S.’ political climate.”
FIFA does not allow sold tickets to be “cancelled,” so if sold, the tickets could be in the resale market or, according to TicketNews, could be an exit from registration for the next (third) ticket sales phase.
Social media campaigning to boycott the U.S. has popped up, from posters from multiple countries, concerning Trump Administration activities on varying issues, including Greenland.
The story stated that FIFA is holding an “emergency” meeting this week to consider “strategies to address fan anxiety, declining ticket commitments, and broader criticism of the World Cup’s hosting environment. Some observers expect the meeting to consider adjustments to fan engagement, communications, or even security measures to reassure supporters.”
FIFA announced on 29 December that “over 150 million ticket requests have been submitted to date by fans from over 200 countries” for the 6-7 million tickets that will be available and that:
“The outcome of the current phase that opened on Thursday, 11 December 2025 means the FIFA World Cup 2026 is oversubscribed over 30 times based on verified individual credit card numbers submitted with each ticket application. The demand also represents 3.4 times more than the overall number of spectators who have attended the 964 matches that make up all 22 editions of the competition combined since 1930.”
The TicketNews analysis of the “cancellations” noted:
“According to data from Ticket Club [resale market], it doesn’t appear that demand has cracked – or at least for now, if it has, that’s not showing up in a meaningful way in asking prices. Overall, the resale marketplace reports that the average asking price across all 104 World Cup matches has edged down only slightly since late December — from $3,697 (12/30) to $3,631 (1/12), a dip of 1.8%. In other words: the market has stabilized, but it hasn’t ‘broken.’”
Its data shows average asking prices on the resale market are still stratospheric, even if down slightly:
● $2,652 for group-stage matches (down)
● $4,347 for the round-of-32 matches (down)
● $7,348 for the round-of-16 (up)
● $4,331 for quarterfinals (down)
● $6,204 for semifinals (down)
● $21,680 for the final (down)
The analysis continued that “even a modest reduction in inbound demand could leave sellers fighting over a smaller pool of high-end buyers, especially for premium-host-city inventory that’s currently priced as if global demand will be limitless.”
Observed: This is the latest resistance-to-Trump activity online by individuals and groups determined to do whatever they can, anywhere, against the administration. It will be fascinating to see what FIFA’s reaction is, especially considering the close relationship of President Gianni Infantino (SUI) with the American President.
The real issue here is not whether FIFA will be able to sell its World Cup tickets: it certainly will. But the entire marketing effort that brought Canadian, Mexican and U.S. cities to spend millions in preparations is based on the anticipated influx of visitors – and their spending on accommodations, meals, merchandise and transportation – to the host cities.
If that fails to materialize – for whatever reason – there will be a furious reaction by cities and their budget, tourism and good governance officers against FIFA and many other sporting events over broken promises, possibly even lawsuits for fraud.
The future of mega-event sports marketing, in the U.S. especially, will depend on visitor spending in World Cup cities from 11 June to 19 July, much more so than on any results on the field.
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