State AGs Probe FIFA World Cup Seating and Ticketing Practices

The attorneys general of four states are looking into FIFA’s ticketing practices around the World Cup.

California, New Jersey, New York and Texas have announced investigations over the last month or so.

Law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz outlined the investigations in an article posted Thursday (June 18) on Mondaq.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a May 13 press release that he sent a letter to FIFA seeking information and that he would use that information to assess whether the organization broke the state’s laws.

Bonta said this move was sparked by reports that FIFA sold tickets based on categories of seating shown on a stadium map and later changed those categories before assigning seats to buyers.

“Californians should be able to trust that the seats they purchase match the representations made during the sales process,” Bonta said in the release. “We look forward to receiving the requested information from FIFA as part of our ongoing review.”

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and New York Attorney General Letitia James announced May 27 that they sent subpoenas to FIFA seeking information about its ticket practices.

They said they are investigating reports that the organization may have misled fans about where the seats for which they were purchasing would be located, did not deliver to fans tickets in the category they paid for, and drove up the prices of tickets sold through “variable pricing” via its ticket release schedule, public statements or other conduct.

Davenport said in a May 27 press release that “FIFA has turned buying a ticket to the World Cup into a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity and impossibly high prices.”

James said in a May 27 press release: “No one should be manipulated into paying sky-high prices for seats, and fans should be able to trust that the tickets they purchase will be the ones they receive.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a June 9 press release that he received several consumer complaints from consumers who may have been misled about the locations of seats they were purchasing and that he launched an investigation into FIFA’s practices.

“I will work to ensure that FIFA is engaging in ethical and honest business practices so that Texas fans are treated fairly,” Paxton said in the release.

FIFA did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

It was reported in September that FIFA confirmed that tickets for the 2026 World Cup would be sold under a dynamic pricing system, a first for the event.

PYMNTS reported in March that FIFA said the event was expected to welcome about 6.5 million fans into stadiums and a vastly larger audience beyond that.