Fifa struggles to sell Tickets overseas, slashes WC prices

LazyLion

LazyLion

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http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=6&click_id=4&art_id=nw20100219121543725C270257

Zurich - Only half of the VIP tickets for the World Cup have been sold, providing a mixed assessment of gate receipts just four months before football's biggest event kicks off in South Africa.

Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke said only 2.1 million tickets have been sold for the tournament that has a capacity of 2.9 million.

But the biggest problem has been with "hospitality" programs, where ticketing agencies make the bulk of their profits by selling spots in luxury booths at significantly higher prices.

Valcke blamed the disappointing performance in the VIP sector on the economic crisis. Price gouging and security fears over South Africa are also causing many football fans to forego the World Cup.

Last year "was the worst period to sell hospitality programs," Valcke told reporters at Fifa's headquarters in Zurich. "I'm sure that it impacted at least by 50 percent the potential."

He also said South Africa would not get 450,000 visitors as it had predicted. He said the number could be as low as 350,000, but he didn't have a precise estimate.

But Fifa has worked hard to make the World Cup more accessible.

Valcke said world football's governing body negotiated lower plane tickets with some airlines, bringing the price of a round-trip flight from New York to Johannesburg down to $2,000 during the World Cup from a normal charge of $3,000.

To prevent empty seats in South Africa's stadiums, seats once designated for traveling Europeans, Americans and other football supporters are being switched to a lower-price category for South Africans. This will hurt profits somewhat, but will also help realise Fifa's goal of ensuring that at least a fifth of spectators at the tournament will be locals.

The lower ticket sales don't hurt Fifa because the organisation reached a deal with marketing firm Match Services AG seven years ago for this World Cup and the next one in Brazil in 2014, Valcke said. South Africa's organising committee has broken even, he said.

On security, meanwhile, Valcke promised that the World Cup would be safe at all venues. He noted South Africa's crime problems, but said they couldn't compare in any way to the breakaway region of Angola where Togo's team was attacked last month at the African Cup of Nations.

To better ensure the safety of teams, fans and media, Fifa was organizing a meeting next month that brings together the police chiefs and heads of security from all 32 teams playing in South Africa. The host country will also be represented by intelligence officials.

But on tickets, Valcke acknowledged that things would need to be changed at future World Cups.

One suggestion he said would surely be studied was selling tickets directly to fans, instead of through ticketing agencies. Fifa would then require ticketing booths around the world, Valcke said, which he said would be part of a new "flexible" approach to selling seats.

And he stressed that the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, slated to host the final, would be completed by March 15.

"It's not fun not to have your main stadium now," Valcke said. - Sapa-AP
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Ohhhhh no... what are we going to do now??? :D
 
i wonder which games will stilll be available? Fifa are retarded...cant we just get to this direct selling phase already?

AND NO ...crappy teams like Honduros will not fill up the stadiums...FACT.
 
I think all the unsold tickets will come into the final pool. Not sure what games will be available. I'll be a bit p'eed off if I bought a ticket at Cat 2 prices, and these now go for R 140.
 
Balstrome said:
Failure happens and it's Ted fault the WC failed.
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Let's see
2.1 million tickets have been sold for the tournament that has a capacity of 2.9 million
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. That leaves 800 000 tickects still unsold with 4 months before the tournament kicks off. That means the World Cup is almost 75% sold out...before the final phase open. How exactly is this failure...?
 
HUH? wtf...when i applied online it only gave me a sh@#y amount of games to choose from and not a single Bafana game was available! what am i doing wrong :o
 
Positively Negative said:
HUH? wtf...when i applied online it only gave me a sh@#y amount of games to choose from and not a single Bafana game was available! what am i doing wrong :o
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There are no Bafana games available and no games for Green Point stadium. The other stadiums have odds and ends available.

I dunno if they will release more tickets in the over the counter phase
 
Positively Negative said:
HUH? wtf...when i applied online it only gave me a sh@#y amount of games to choose from and not a single Bafana game was available! what am i doing wrong :o
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Arh that means they are now sold out...this current phase is on a first come first served basis. Which means that once they become oversubscribed you can no longer apply for them.
Sorry dude...I guess you will have to watch on TV
 
I have a mate from the US that is coming out to watch as many games as he can. He wasn't happy with what he got in the ticket draw either. Was hoping for more:confused:
 
JungleBoy said:
Let's see . That leaves 800 000 tickects still unsold with 4 months before the tournament kicks off. That means the World Cup is almost 75% sold out...before the final phase open. How exactly is this failure...?
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A negative minded person only sees failure. Nothing will ever please such a person!
 
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