Football World Cup parking prices astonish fans, as FIFA charges up to $175

NEW YORK: World Cup ticket holders can expect to spend big just to park their cars at next year’s tournament, with prices on FIFA’s official website reaching as much as $175 per parking pass.

First reported by the Athletic, the figures have astonished sports fans in the famously car-dependent United States, one of the tournament’s three hosts, along with Canada and Mexico.

A “general parking” pass for the July 14 semi-final in Dallas was listed at $175 on Tuesday, while the price for parking at a group-stage match was listed at $75.

Parking at a quarter-final match in Kansas City on July 11 would cost ticket holders $125 while the price for group-stage matches was $75.

FIFA, which used dynamic pricing for the first phase of ticket sales for the tournament, had group-stage seats starting at $60.

Only a handful of the 16 World Cup venues across Canada, Mexico and the United States had parking passes listed for sale online as of Tuesday.

Mexico City, which will host the first match of the tournament, and New York/New Jersey, which will host the final, were among the cities that did not have parking available yet.

FIFA received more than 1.5 million ticket applications from fans within 24 hours of the presale draw being launched in September for the World Cup.