World cup - empty seats

spongebob89 · 25-06-2014 10:08PM #1

why are there so many empty seats at the world cup in the biggest football nation, they must be charging big bucks for tickets which is a joke they should lower prices and fill the stadiums

Paully D · 25-06-2014 10:17PM

https://in.news.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/empty-seats-are-a-product-of-returned-tickets-not-being-reallocated-173905862.html

According to SeatGeek, several tickets to matches were returned either by teams or sponsors and those tickets were not reallocated by FIFA. So, provided that is true, there are tickets just sitting in the electronic ticketing ether that are going unused.

Zaph · 25-06-2014 10:56PM

Happens all the time at big tournaments. Sponsors hand out freebies to various people, and because they get them for nothing the holders don't feel that they're losing anything by not going to the matches, so they don't bother their arses. Obviously that means a lot of real fans who'd give their right arms to be at the matches miss out, but with money and corporate sponsorship calling the shots these days it's something that is unlikely to change any time soon.

ArmaniJeanss · 25-06-2014 11:14PM

spongebob89 wrote: »

why are there so many empty seats at the world cup in the biggest football nation, they must be charging big bucks for tickets which is a joke they should lower prices and fill the stadiums

Better to sell 42000 tickets at $100 than 45000 at $50.
And reducing the prices in the run up to the game to shift the last few thousand seats would be terrible business policy (for much the same reasons that Ryanair don't give cheap seats on the day of the flight).

The Backwards Man · 25-06-2014 11:17PM

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Better to sell 42000 tickets at $100 than 45000 at $50.
And reducing the prices in the run up to the game to shift the last few thousand seats would be terrible business policy (for much the same reasons that Ryanair don't give cheap seats on the day of the flight).

Tickets are around $175 aren't they? Think that's what my brother said he paid last week.

josh101st · 25-06-2014 11:19PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Tickets are around $175 aren't they? Think that's what my brother said he paid last week.

the prices differ for different stages of the cup don't they?

The Backwards Man · 25-06-2014 11:23PM

josh101st wrote: »

the prices differ for different stages of the cup don't they?

Dunno, that was for a group stage game

ArmaniJeanss · 25-06-2014 11:24PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Tickets are around $175 aren't they? Think that's what my brother said he paid last week.

True. Though my key point really was with the OPs assertion that prices should be reduced. If they able to sell 95% of seats at $X, then $X is probably close to a correct price. Especially as (as zaph gave an example of) the empty seats are caused by more than just the 'too expensive' factor.

Utopia Parkway · 25-06-2014 11:27PM

Wait until we get to Russia and Qatar.

josh101st · 25-06-2014 11:36PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Dunno, that was for a group stage game

oh right yeah as far as i know they can only go up in price from the group stages

thelad95 · 25-06-2014 11:53PM

I have to say I've actually seen f*ck all empty seats and I've watched pretty much every match. It was particularly bad at the Champions League and Europa League finals this year though.

Kylo Ren · 26-06-2014 12:18AM

It's a disgrace and is giving the Manchester City players an advantage by making them feel like they're playing at home.

Diabhal Beag · 26-06-2014 12:37AM

^^See that City fans? You're never more than two metres away from a sick burn bro.

Invertpyramid · 26-06-2014 07:13AM

Keno wrote: »

It's a disgrace and is giving the Manchester City players an advantage by making them feel like they're playing at home.

True but it could be worse.

If Brazil hadn't finished building the stadiums in time and had to play in a dump, the Liverpool players would have that "home feel" advantage.

WesternZulu · 26-06-2014 07:46AM

I'm sure that there are many fans there that are happy enough to go to a one off game and spend ALL their time taking photos and not getting into whats going on during the match.

Gives an unfair advantage to the Manchester United players IMO.

the groutch · 26-06-2014 07:51AM

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

True. Though my key point really was with the OPs assertion that prices should be reduced. If they able to sell 95% of seats at $X, then $X is probably close to a correct price. Especially as (as zaph gave an example of) the empty seats are caused by more than just the 'too expensive' factor.

with a few of the games it looked more like 80%, that's not just purely unused tickets.

gandalf · 26-06-2014 09:03AM

spongebob89 wrote: »

why are there so many empty seats at the world cup in the biggest football nation, they must be charging big bucks for tickets which is a joke they should lower prices and fill the stadiums

TBH its not unique to this World Cup it was the same for the last one. It's a combination of sponsor tickets given to people who don't bother to go to the matches and ticket prices that are beyond the spending power of the average punter in the country it's based.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/7830742/World-Cup-2010-empty-seats-undermine-Fifa-claims-over-poor-attendances.html

pickarooney · 26-06-2014 09:19AM

the groutch wrote: »

with a few of the games it looked more like 80%, that's not just purely unused tickets.

There are some games you just couldn't give tickets away for I'd say. Even without hindsight, Nigeria-Iran was never going to be an attractive fixture and to ask someone to pay $175 for that is chancing it.

petronius · 02-07-2014 05:09PM

I dont think the stadia have been full of empty seats -
sure in some of the hotter areas fans moved out of the sun, since it was too hot
ok some of the less favourable fixtures may have had a reduced attendance but overall there has been a carnival like atmosphere and especially the dressing up etc.
Great fans from USA, Germany, Holland and Mexico mixing together as well as the South American fans have made the tournament special
thankfully there was not a ticket fiasco like for the London Olympics when top sports stars were playing in front of sparse crowds such as olympic tennis etc.

EuropeanSon · 02-07-2014 05:18PM

Keno wrote: »

It's a disgrace and is giving the Manchester City players an advantage by making them feel like they're playing at home.

Invertpyramid wrote: »

True but it could be worse.

If Brazil hadn't finished building the stadiums in time and had to play in a dump, the Liverpool players would have that "home feel" advantage.

WesternZulu wrote: »

I'm sure that there are many fans there that are happy enough to go to a one off game and spend ALL their time taking photos and not getting into whats going on during the match.

Gives an unfair advantage to the Manchester United players IMO.

At least we all agree Arsenal are being unfairly disadvantaged

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World cup - empty seats

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