World Cup: Hard to score tickets for Canada’s big game this Sunday in Los Angeles
Diehard Canadian soccer fans are juggling expensive tickets and travel costs as Team Canada plays in Los Angeles on Sunday.
By Lori Culbert
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Want tickets to see the Canadian men’s soccer team take on South Africa in the World Cup Round of 32 this Sunday in Los Angeles? Unfortunately, that may be very difficult — even if you’re willing to max out your credit card.
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As of Thursday afternoon, the only seats available on the official FIFA ticket website appeared to be priced at US$4,300. And throughout the day the quantity available was consistently less than 10 for the 70,000-seat Los Angeles Stadium.
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FIFA also has an online marketplace that allows ticket-holders to resell their seats to other fans. As of Thursday, there appeared to be zero tickets available for the Sunday match — the first time Canada has made it to the Cup knockout round.
There are various other ticket resellers online with seats for Sunday’s game ranging from $1,000 to $5,000, but using those vendors means not having the certainty of buying directly from FIFA.
Some superfans posted Thursday on a Facebook site for Team Canada supporters that they had purchased June 28 tickets through the Canada Red organization, with several saying they paid around CDN$850 — much lower than the resale sites.
People can join Canada Red to support the development of soccer in this country, with memberships ranging from $50 to $5,000. Members can then apply to buy tickets for all Canada matches, but the website on Thursday warned that “ticket allocation has now been closed” and that codes required to buy the tickets are no longer being distributed to new members.
That leaves Canadian fans with few options.
Many may choose, instead, to flock on Sunday to the popular watch parties throughout Metro Vancouver, including Granville Street, the PNE, Granville Island, and North Vancouver’s Shipyards.
Others may decide to seize this historic moment of Canada advancing, for the first time, in the Cup. But any trip to L.A. will require paying for not just sky-high tickets, but also travel expenses.
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“You’d have to have more money than brains to pay that if you’re a Canadian supporter,” was the take of one footie fan on the X social media site.
However, on a Reddit forum dedicated to Canadian soccer, several patriotic fans posted about booking airplane tickets to L.A. for this weekend.
“Will be a tiny bit conflicted (born in South Africa) but will be rooting for the boys as a proud Canadian!!!,” posted Reddit user AngusGGMU.
Other posters, though, joked that fans should start walking now to get to L.A. by Sunday because travel costs were prohibitive, quoting prices like $600 for the train and $1,900 for flights.
One Vancouver travel agent warned a Postmedia News reporter that with fans only learning on Wednesday that Canada’s next game will be Sunday in L.A., a sudden interest in California flights could bump up airfares due to “surge-pricing.”
The top results Thursday on an Expedia search for economy-fare flights from Vancouver to Las Vegas, from June 27 to 29, were a non-stop flight for $2,932 and a route with stopovers for $1,270.
During non-peak times, Expedia searches put round-trip flights to L.A. at under $300.
A quick search of Amtrak tickets from Seattle to L.A. this weekend showed cheaper coach and business tickets are nearly sold out, leaving just “private-room” fares starting at $1,400 one way.
One Toronto fan posted on a Facebook support group for the Canadian team that he investigated the price of flying to Vegas, renting a car and parking in the L.A. stadium.
Carlo Cesaretti of Port Hardy, an administrator of the Canadian Mens National Soccer Team Supporters Facebook group, said some members are planning to travel to L.A. and that there is a section in the stadium where Canadians will sit together. But he isn’t planning to go on the long journey.
The tickets alone “are priced out of my range,” Cesaretti said.
He said the Cup is a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience, but still, “tickets shouldn’t cost that much.”
Port Hardy, on northern Vancouver Island, doesn’t have any watch parties, but there is a definite buzz among his fellow “soccer fanatics” for this Cup, he added. “People get excited, but I think most people are just watching it at home.”
