FIFA World Cup Hospitality Options Show Strong Demand, Says On Location

Demand to attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup throughout North America via hospitality packages has led to what On Location is calling an “unprecedented” deposit campaign as details emerge about a variety of high-end options that will be available before the general ticket sales phase begins.

Alicia Falken, On Location’s general manager for FIFA World Cup 26, called next summer’s tournament “one of the largest hospitality events ever” as FIFA announced its latest set of hospitality offerings recently with options for single matches, the ability to follow a specific team through the Round of 32 and a venue series with a variety of high-end offerings that come in at hefty price tags.

“I think we have price points for everybody,” Falken said. “There’s different levels of hospitality and different products that we offer to create sort of a something-for-everyone kind of menu. Whether you buy a Follow My Team series or suite or are looking for more of a fan-based experience such as our pavilion, I really do think there’s something for everybody.”

Wide Range of Hospitality Options

On Location recently released several sets of packages including a venue series for one stadium, single-match packages through the Round of 32 and a Follow My Team packages that guarantees tickets and hospitality for a team’s group stage and potential Round of 32 game should their team advance past the group stage.

As for the question of what a fan would do if their team advances past the Round of 32, “I’m fairly certain we’ll change our bundling structure by the time that the draw happens,” Falken said. “Once we understand where the teams are playing, there’ll be opportunities and there’ll be hospitality available,” Falken said.

The cheapest group stage hospitality ticket is $1,350 for a game on June 16 in Kansas City while the most expensive is $2,100 for group stage games on June 14 and June 27 in Dallas. Within the Round of 32, the cheapest ticket is $2,025 for a June 29 match in Houston and the most expensive is $2,600 for a July 2 match in Inglewood, California.

Falken said factors that went into the pricing include operating costs, the various destinations and the international demand as well.

“We obviously strive to ensure that experiences are priced fairly and then we have a range of products available,” she said. “There’s a lot of factors that go into something like that. It would be hard to roll it into one concise answer. There’s factors in terms of venues in the local market and the expectations of teams and a lot of different factors that would go into that. Obviously there’s varying interests across the different follow my teams packages as well.”

The Price to Follow a Team

The cost for most Follow My Team packages are in the range of either $6,750 or $7,200. There are a few countries that stick out — none more so than Colombia with a price tag of $13,500, significantly more than any other country. The next three most expensive packages are for Spain, Germany and France. One country whose packages are not available is England. Those packages are not currently available because of high demand during the initial launch in May although options may be available at a later date.

The Follow My Team packages include a FIFA pavilion area with preferred seating, pre- and post-match hospitality service and other amenities including a beverage program, culinary offerings, “gourmet street eats,” entertainment and a commemorative gift.

Pitchside Lounge packages include “premium seats located along the sidelines” along with a dedicated guest relations area plus exclusive beverage and culinary options. VIP packages include seating “offering an enhanced view of the match in most venues” while Trophy Lounge package seats are “combining comfort and convenience with excellent views and easy access to amenities.” The Champions Club is much like the Trophy Lounge in offerings. The FIFA Pavilion has preferred seating options.

The FIFA Pavilion packages for a Venue Series are the cheapest for each stadium and range from $8,275 for Bay Area Stadium to $25,800 for New York/New Jersey. The most expensive of any package is $68,150 for a Pitchside Lounge package at New York/New Jersey stadium, which includes the final.

“FIFA has a really well-thought out standard in terms of hospitality,” Falken said. “They’ve been doing this a long time and you’ve got an existing stadium in this sense, it’s different than Qatar when it was all purpose-built stadiums specifically for the World Cup. In this case we’re looking at stadiums that are already built, so how does the space fit the product requirements and determine what makes the most sense, (and) the alignment of seating to those hospitality spaces to make sure that we’re creating the unparalleled experience that customers are getting what they pay for? The experience that they want is very important.”

Adding Local and International Flair

Falken said the packages are also designed so fans have options to either follow a team or just see games at one stadium that they’re close to regionally. On Location is also working to try and make each stadium’s hospitality as locally relevant as possible.

“Something we’re working through right now, and that this is the most fun to me, is creating something that is city-specific, but then also that you feel like you’re at a World Cup across the board,” she said. “It’s also an international event. So how do you mix those international flavors with local flavors — there’s the food, there’s the design, there’s gifting. There’s the entertainment, there’s all these different aspects of that guest experience that you can use to create that look and feel of this space that’s uniquely World Cup and unique to that host city but also create a thread across every venue in every space. And that’s the neat part.”

When asked what the revenue targets or goals for the hospitality packages were, Falken said that because On Location is part of TKO Holdings, which is a publicly traded company, “I don’t believe I can speak to revenue targets and forward-looking things.”

General Tickets on Sale Soon

The application period for the first general ticket draw for the FIFA World Cup will open on September 10 and fans should visit FIFA.com/tickets to register interest and create a FIFA ID if they have plans to attend.

There will be several ticket sales phases from the start of sales in September. Each phase may differ in purchasing processes, payment methods and ticket products. Dynamic pricing for general ticket sales has also been discussed, according to The Athletic.

Falken said since On Location is the hospitality provider but not the ticketing provider, “any questions related to general ticketing need to go to FIFA because we’re not supporting the general ticket launch.”

FIFA this week said those who enter the Visa Presale Draw between September 10 and September 19 can apply for a chance to purchase tickets in the first phase of ticket sales. To participate in the Visa Presale Draw, Visa cardholders must log into their FIFA account using their FIFA ID and complete the application form at any time during the ten-day application period for their chance to purchase tickets.

Following a random selection process, FIFA will notify successful cardholders by email beginning no earlier than September 30. These cardholders will be assigned a date and time slot in October during which they will be able to visit to purchase tickets (subject to availability).

FIFA also took pains to point out this week “a match ticket does not guarantee admission to a host country, and fans should visit each host country’s government website today for entry requirements.”