UMVA has learned that Canadian soccer fans are in for a pleasant surprise as ticket prices for their national team's World Cup games have taken a significant nosedive on resale markets.
With less than a week to go before the FIFA World Cup kicks off, it appears that ticket prices are crashing, with Canada experiencing the biggest drop in "get-in" prices over the past month. The average low price to see one of Canada's three group-stage games has plummeted to $561 US, down 11% over the past week, 12.7% over the past two weeks, and a staggering 23.7% over the past 30 days.
Canada's ticket price drop is a remarkable shift, especially considering they were once one of the priciest teams. They've now fallen to the bottom half of the 48-team field sorted by average ticket price. In comparison, Scotland has seen the second-biggest drop over the past month at 15.7%, while prices for seats to watch Haiti play have gone down 7% over the past week.
According to information obtained by UMVA, the decline in ticket prices isn't limited to specific locations. Canada's two games being played in Vancouver – against Qatar and Switzerland – are the only two group-stage matches hosted at BC Place that have dropped in average price over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, the average prices for all games played at BMO Field in Toronto remain steady at $578, which is up 2% over the past seven days and 6.8% over the past 14 days.
One match, however, has seen a significant price drop: Canada's match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite being touted as a marquee event, the demand seemingly has crumbled, with the average get-in price dropping by 22% over the past week and 36% over the past month to $678.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that one of the most likely reasons behind this late crash in the ticket market may be fairly simple: prices were too high to begin with. Canada's opener against Bosnia-Herzegovina still has hundreds of tickets unsold on the official ticketing portal, with Category 1 seats listed at $3,135 CAD and Category 2 at $2,300.
On the other end of the spectrum, Sweden has seen a surge in demand, with the average get-in price for their three group-stage games rising 11.3% over the past seven days and 39% over the past month. Mexico, one of the tournament's co-hosts, has the highest average get-in price at $1,805 US, followed by Portugal, Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina.
The countries with the lowest get-in prices are New Zealand and Iran, with both coming in at under $300 on their low ends. Team USA, the third World Cup co-host, sits in eighth place at $903.
