WC transit sticker shock hits fans with tickets to matches in some US host cities

[AP Photo]

Dubbed the “Sommermärchen,” or “Summer Fairy Tale,” the 2006 World Cup in Germany was a widely praised showcase for a modern, unified nation that was welcoming to fans from around the globe. Part of that success was the “KombiTicket,” which gave fans free access to local public transportation on match days.

Since then, World Cup host countries have invested heavily in getting fans to and from matches, especially in Russia in 2018, where even long-distance trains between host cities were free, and Qatar in 2022, where free metro access helped turn stadium-hopping into part of the tournament experience.

Then came the United States.

Already reeling from astronomical ticket prices, expensive flights and exorbitant hotel costs, fans have been outraged to discover that getting to some stadiums via rail will come with another hefty bill: $98 round-trip train fares in New Jersey and $80 in Massachusetts — trips that normally cost NFL fans $12.90 and $20, respectively.

Officials insist they aren’t trying to rip off fans, but are instead just trying to cover the costs of security and expanded train service without being a drain on taxpayers. Yet fans see it as just another way that tournament organizers are burdening fans who are already paying huge sums to visit the U.S., a huge, car-centric country where public transit has long been an afterthought in many locales. Unlike past hosts, some state and local officials have been less willing to swallow the costs, arguing they should be covered by FIFA, the international soccer body that stands to rake in billions of dollars from the event.

Finding a solution from overseas

“Planning for this World Cup has been a nightmare from start to finish,” said Scotland-born Rory Phillips-Hunter, a 37-year-old hospitality worker who lives in northern England. “I think it’s the most inaccessible one there’s ever been.”

Mystified by the lack of affordable options to travel 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Providence, Rhode Island, to Foxborough, Massachusetts, where Scotland’s first two matches will take place, Phillips-Hunter and some fellow Tartan Army members decided to figure it out themselves.

At about $50 per person, the Scots have booked about 20 school buses to take nearly 1,000 members of the plaid-clad fan group to each match. They’re even getting a police escort, all for just over half the cost of the $95 bus fare that local officials are offering — a combined savings of more than $85,000.

The $95 bus fare was never going to break the bank, Phillips-Hunter knows, but he and so many other Scots are already paying huge sums to see their men’s team compete in the World Cup for the first time in 28 years. Phillips-Hunter estimates it will take him two years to pay off the credit card debt he’s taking on for his six-day trip to the U.S., including the $1,350 he spent on a ticket for the Scotland-Morocco match.

Beyond anything, Phillips-Hunter is frustrated that a group of Scots from across the ocean were able to organize transportation for so much cheaper than what local officials offered.

“When I look at that difference in cost, that’s just profits you’re taking from us,” he said.

Who should pay?

Not every host city is approaching transportation the same way. Atlanta, Houston and Seattle have stadiums linked directly to their rail systems, and regular fares will apply. Miami-Dade County officials recently announced they will offer free shuttles to get fans to and from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from downtown Miami. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is offering free rides on the way back from the stadium, thanks to funding from FIFA sponsor Airbnb. And Kansas City, Missouri, is running $15 shuttles.

The relatively high transit costs for the matches at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts are partly because they’re in the suburbs, and many fans drive to the NFL games they typically host. But parking will be extremely limited during the World Cup due to expanded security perimeters, broadcast needs and lots being used as VIP areas, forcing far more fans to use public transit.

David Gogishvili is a senior researcher at Switzerland’s University of Lausanne and studies how sports organizers put together big events like the World Cup.

He said it is standard practice for organizers like FIFA to pass much of the cost on to host countries. The difference this time is that the U.S. has “stronger and more independent” state and local officials who have been less willing to take on the cost and “bow to the wills of FIFA.”

“These costs should be borne by the organization that is earning money out of these events, which is FIFA. It should not always be the host cities that take on all the expenses,” Gogishvili said, noting the soccer body’s expected $13 billion revenue from 2023-26.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, has called on FIFA to cover the transportation costs to matches.

But FIFA pushed back, arguing that no other global event has been asked to absorb such costs and that its initial agreements with host cities called for free transportation for fans to all matches. The agreements were later changed to allow cities to provide transit “at cost.”

The reason transit has been so accessible at recent World Cups is that host nations like Russia and Qatar have viewed the tournament as a “public relations exercise,” and subsidized transit accordingly, Gogishvili said.

Officials’ anxiety over transit costs also comes amid growing concern that the promised World Cup economic boon won’t materialize, with hotel room bookings not meeting expectations in most of the 11 U.S. cities hosting the tournament. A 2022 study co-authored by Gogishvili found that nearly every World Cup from 1966 through 2018 ran at a financial deficit.

Yonah Freemark, a researcher at the Washington-based Urban Institute think tank who specializes in transit issues, said World Cup fans from Europe and Asia will encounter less-advanced but costlier transit systems than they’re used to back home.

Pointing to the transit pricing tied to matches in New Jersey and Massachusetts, Freemark said officials “are trying to get away with murder.” Wait times and transit access, he added, will likely fall well short of what many foreign visitors are used to.

Searching for a way to the stadium

Ynara Correa da Costa, a Brazilian systems analyst who lives outside Sao Paulo, will be attending her seventh World Cup.

Like many, she was stunned when officials initially proposed charging as much as $150 for train fares from New York City to MetLife Stadium, where Brazil plays its opener against Morocco. The widespread shock and led New Jersey officials to lower the price to $98 after securing additional funding.

But even the lowered price for a short train ride “is just not acceptable,” Costa said.

Costa was heartened when the local host committee said it had secured more buses to get to the stadium and slashed the price from $80 to $20. But there are only enough bus seats for 18,000 fans to get to the stadium, which holds about 82,500.

That seems far more manageable to Costa. Earlier, she wondered whether she and other cost-conscious fans might have to walk to MetLife Stadium, but that isn’t possible.

“We’ll go to the match, that I know,” Costa said. “But how? Let’s see.” MDT/AP