Zohran Mamdani secures $50 World Cup tickets for New Yorkers amid FIFA pricing scandal

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FT Desk

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has secured World Cup tickets for some lucky New Yorkers that will be available for just $50.

FIFA has received criticism for their dynamic pricing strategy for World Cup match tickets, which has seen the tournament become, by far, the most expensive in history for fans.

Dynamic pricing means demand led to increased prices, while FIFA hold a 15% comission on any tickets that are resold through their official reselling platform.

Tickets for group stage matches are three times more expensive than Qatar in 2022, on average, and last month a ticket for the World Cup was posted on a reselling site for $2m.

Due to the prices, FIFA are struggling to sell out key matches such as the USMNT opener against Paraguay which is currently the third-most expensive match of the whole tournament. At one point, it was being outsold by New Zealand versus Iran in the same venue, SoFi Stadium.

Mamdani, a longtime soccer fan, criticised the sport's governing body over the prices but has now secured permission from FIFA to conduct a ballot that will see New Yorkers able to apply to win 1,000 $50 tickets across five group stage matches, one Round of 32 match and one last-16 match for the games at MetLife Stadium.

The final, also at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, is not included in the ballot.

The Athletic reports that Mamdani raised the issue directly with FIFA president Gianni Infantino during a meeting in New York in March.

The tickets available will be Category Three and, as an example, the previous tickets released for Brazil versus Morocco in that category at MetLife were priced at $325. The $50 tickets, therefore, represent a major reduction.

Crucially, they will be non-transferable which means scalpers cannot sell them at a significant profit.

Mamdani’s campaign manager Maya Handa said: “This program exists because the mayor was determined to make sure working New Yorkers would be in the stands when the World Cup comes home to New York. A kid in the Bronx, a security guard in Queens, a restaurant worker in Brooklyn or Staten Island — they are going to walk into the stadium this summer because their city fought for them to be there.”

He previously launched the 'Game over Greed' campaign which lobbied FIFA to stop the dynamic ticket pricing that has been a major talking point ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America.

“As a lifelong soccer fan, I have grown up with memories of the World Cup, whether watching on TV or being there myself,” Mamdani told The Athletic in October.

“I went in 2010 to South Africa. I know what this tournament represents, which is the most popular tournament in the world, and also what it could be, which is a celebration of the world’s game.

“Yet these kinds of policies from FIFA are ones that threaten to price out the very people that make this game so special. In our fight for making the most expensive city in America affordable, it’s a fight that is not limited just to housing, childcare and public transit. It also extends to the moments that give New Yorkers such joy, which will be the World Cup next year.”

In April, Mamdani pledged to make watching soccer more affordable in the United States through a new partnership with NWSL outfit Gotham FC.

While FIFA are receiving daily criticism for the exorbitant prices of World Cup tickets, Mamdani countered the greed with an initiative to provide $5 tickets for Gotham FC's fixture against Boston Legacy at Sports Illustrated Stadium on 9 May.

Standard prices for the match were $22 but after the $5 tickets were released, it sold out within a couple of hours.