I’d rather watch the A-league
Why would you overpay just so you could be thrown in a concentration camp by the orange pig’s personal goonsquad.
Not tryna dox myself but I was able to get a ticket to the Argentina vs Iceland warm up match held 2 days ago in Auburn because Auburn University sold the tickets directly for $78, and they still didn’t sell out the stadium, so you could buy tickets for as low as $40 from resellers.
And they played Messi too so its not like it was some B squad match, they all actually showed up.
If Auburn couldn’t sell out the stadium for such a game, there’s no way FIFA is filling any of the world cup matches except for maybe semis and finals.
Yeah Jordan Hare is more full than that when an fcs team comes to town…
I’m not sure you can really compare those two games.
It’s a litrle like the world series versus spring training.
Even if the second one coats 10% of the first, there’s way more demand for the first.
I mean I’m underselling with “spring training”, but still. Are those 2 events really comparable?
I support the ethical boycott of the World Cup
I’m not watching one minute of it. I’ll just support my local uslw club as usual.
Surely not as bad as Qatar. FIFA dgaf
Maybe they should hand out a few more peace prizes.
A single ticket sold is already one ticket too much.
FIFA and scalpers can go screw themselves.
Meanwhile, resale platforms such as StubHub and SeatGeek — and FIFA’s own marketplace — also show thousands of tickets on sale.
Even President Trump said he wouldn’t pay those prices. “I would certainly like to be there, but I wouldn’t pay it either, to be honest with you,” Trump told the New York Post in a recent interview.
And on this:
“The hope or bet — for FIFA is that once the matches start — and the greatest players in the world compete for the most prestigious prize of them all, the sport as business lens will fade into the background and the World Cup will be seen and experienced as the enduring global institution that it is,” Shields says. “We shall see.”
No way. You can’t separate the two anymore. The pretense of “that income mostly benefitting the sport” is kinda laughable now.
soooooo the lower class is getting priced out of both the bread AND the circuses?
This is an insanely poignant analogy. At least the Romans had their collosium before they fell. We ain’t even got that.
But you still have the White House UFC fight. Just subscribe to paramount plus and you can watch people fight for your entertainment!
Even the worst emperors made sure the circuses were accessible.
No. Plenty of free and cheap things to do that small artists and performers do. The World Cup is corrupt garbage. Turn it off.
Although you are correct, you miss my point.
In the Roman days, the phrase meant superficial appeasement of the masses by the politicians. It was a tactic to prevent the uprising of the lower class. My point is that these days, the ruling class isn’t bothering to give the populace any appeasement. No give, only take. The small artists and performers are fantastic, but they are organized at the small, local level by the very class of people that are being repressed, and so do not fit in the ‘bread and circuses’ quote.
No, we still have that. It’s just that the circus is a carefully formulated mix of emotional content being pushed to your pocket tracker and the bread is high fructose corn syrup.
Some year/decades ago Prague was the best place to experience fantastic jazz for cheap money. Probably still is to some degree.
This was because they had a lot of people enrolling in universities (music conservatories) due to poverty. They even have a one of a kind conservatory for blind musicians.
The entire countryside was a dead end, so anyone with a remote talent for doing the hand whistle would move from the villages all over the Czech Republic to take the chance in Prague. Education gave them a low but steady income and a chance of getting into an orchestra. Much like Hollywood, right? Except these people got paid to do it, so it obviously attracted many to do so.
However, orchestras and universities only need so many players and teachers, so once they were educated they ended up playing on the streets or in small dive in bars if they were lucky.
Mind, these were the state-of-art and most talented people at that in the world. Competition was fierce. Only the best could survive on that.
As an ignorant tourist not knowing the reasons, this was heaven. The street artists were more talented than the professional orchestras at home.
I myself had a dream of becoming a performing musician at the time but I gave up that dream after seeing a guitarist at a jazz club in Prague play the most magnificent solo while attempting to keep the band aid shut on his finger to avoid the blood dripping over the stage from playing ten gigs before on the same day.
Soon, if things continue the way they are, we will find the best computer programmers on the streets, making code for nickels while wearing casts to keep their mouse stain injuries from stopping them.
Anyway. Romans didn’t do that, but gladiators, musicians and coders are still just people trying to make living.
The circus is the Iran war
No more bread and circuses, now it’s… crud and brises.
Yeah, it is going to get awkward for FIFA playing in half filled stadiums.
Not just the cost. The corruption carries a stink. People dont want to travel to america as they worry they wont be welcome by the border control. Nobody wants to spend thousands to end up in detention.
You mean like actual FIFA referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan who was barred from entering the US and had to fly home?
And these dingbats want people to drop thousands on travel, accommodation and tickets? Tickets to see the event where actual game officials are turned back at the border? Good luck 👍
Not only turned back, he was interrogated for 11 straight hours before they did.
He’s going to red matches in Vancouver.
I live in the US and within traveling distance. I can absolutely afford the tickets. I am a lifelong supporter of the sport.
Fuck FIFA. Fuck the US.
Same. I love football, live within reasonable distance of a stadium, and am at a stage of life where I could definitely attend some matches and see some of my favorite players.
Not even going to watch on TV.
My MLS club is sending out emails offering “discounted” tickets to the US v Paraguay team. It was hard to click the trash can icon while laughing so hard.
My extreme excitement for this WC turned into extreme desire for pure chaos and disaster. All the reasons I boycotted Russia and Qatar are being done by the US.
The cheapest seat costs USD$1120, when most of the world is in a cost of living crisis.
It’s insane. Literally insane. I’m a normal world it would be a joke and they would be laughed out. There’s just so much fuckery going on in the background with deals and bribes. That’s all it’s good for now. Making certain people money. It’s always been a massive drain on resources
That’s like several months of food. Or years worth of video games. That’s so expensive. Even if I was a big fan of the sport, I wouldn’t be able to justify spending that.
For entertainment ticket price perspective, I paid less than $50 to see half of Led Zeppelin in concert (Jimmy Page & Robert Plant show) and it was fuckin’ awesome. But I’m not a sports fan so I wouldn’t pay even $50 to see a FIFA match.
Maybe even 128GB of RAM.
I’m a huge fan of the sport, living in the city where the game is held, with more than enough money to afford those tickets. I’m not even considering spending that.
Hurrah! Let’s keep pushing those numbers down for all games in the USA. Maybe even reschedule the final away from the Meadowlands.
It isn’t like Arlington, TX is going to be that much better.
I avoid the metroplex like the plague already.
Amen, please get it out of Jersey, it was never going to be a boon, only a burden.
No kidding. Route 3 is going to be madness. I feel a great swell of pity for the poor folks living in East Rutherford, Lyndhurst, Moonachie, and Secaucus.
I feel that pity for them regardless of these WC games.
Same. Used to be up there often for work pre-COVID, and now I just say no, it isn’t worth the money. I’m a central jerseyan and that’s all I need. And Jersey City, unfortunately.
So you’re in South Jersey but you’re on the north end of it. Which is it - Pork Roll or Taylor Ham?
Ha, oddly enough I’m partial to neither because I don’t think it’s that great a meat. I’ll go sausage or bacon with my egg and cheese first.
And if anything, I would be southern North Jersey, I’m a stone’s throw from 78, don’t lump me in with those Southies.
Whoa whoa, let’s not start a brawl
good
Took the word right out of my mouth
Personally, I’m boycotting the World Cup, so…
Same. My apathy of football is suddenly a virtue.
I’ve seen a significant lack of discussion around boycotting it. It was a huge part of the discourse around Qatar, so I wish it was a bit more widespread and “normalised” for this one as well.
It’s not a virtue signal any more, no need to announce it.
I live in a host city and there is zero excitement.
No locals are mentioning it as a sporting event, it’s a hassle that’s going to fuck with transit and make everything cost twice as much.
It’s not about virtue signalling, it’s about a sense of coordination which enables people to feel it’s “worth it”.
Often people don’t do something that is an inconvenience if they feel like it doesn’t matter/make a difference. So a sense that it is a “thing” could help motivate others.
I have been hearing it a lot, but it is quieter and more serious. A lot more people are just doing it out of necessity or cost, too. No need to boycott something you can’t attend or aren’t allowed to attend.
Me too, but I usually don’t watch football anyway so it’s not exactly different from standard operating procedure
In any case, it won’t deflect attention from Trump’s crimes.
