Several professional women’s basketball leagues have emerged since the WNBA’s recent rise. Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull thinks those leagues will merge in the future.
Hull, who has played in Athletes Unlimited and Unrivaled, tells Front Office Sports that the schedule and structure of the different offseason leagues work at the moment because of the WNBA’s limited roster spots and relatively short schedule.
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But as the WNBA continues to expand, the Stanford graduate believes other leagues may need to consolidate.
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“It is great to have other options in Athletes Unlimited and Unrivaled to give players the opportunity to play in the offseason,” Hull said. “I think down the line, I would envision some of those leagues merging together and giving players the opportunity to actually have a full offseason.”
The WNBA season currently runs from May to September. Both Athletes Unlimited and Unrivaled run near the start of the calendar year. Athletes Unlimited runs for about a month, and Unrivaled lasts for about two months.
“The length of those leagues and the length of those seasons are short in the whole scheme of things that we still do get a good amount of time off,” Hull said. “We get a chance to rest our body and recover … I think in the foreseeable future, they’ll definitely still be around and bringing in a lot more eyes for the offseason people that want to watch.”
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The WNBA season can be pushed into late November under the new CBA. After this year’s 44-game season, the schedule can max out at 50 games in 2027 and 2028, and 52 games from 2029 to 2032.
Athletes Unlimited and Unrivaled are inherently different leagues. The former plays a traditional 5-on-5 format, while the latter is 3-on-3 basketball. And they also have differences from two other leagues launching this year: The Upshot League and Project B.
Startup League Boom Continues
The Upshot League is a professional league launching May 15 and will run simultaneously with the WNBA season. The four-team league will play in cities without a WNBA franchise: Jacksonville, Savannah, Greensboro, and Charlotte. It’s already been announced that two expansion teams will be coming next year in Baltimore and Nashville.
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The league’s commissioner is Donna Orender, the former president of the WNBA. She told Front Office Sports that Upshot can be a “complementary” league to the WNBA.
“We believe that there is a place for us to be partners in a meaningful and impactful way,” Orender said.
FOS reported late last year that Project B is offering players salaries starting at $2 million, which is more than the supermax salaries in the WNBA, even under the new CBA.
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Salaries will also play a factor in players’ interest in joining offseason leagues. The primary reason players played overseas or in other domestic leagues was to supplement their earnings, given the WNBA’s low salaries.
But increased income may change players’ offseason decisions. For example, WNBA superstars A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark, both of whom have multi-million-dollar shoe deals, have never played in Athletes Unlimited or Unrivaled.
Sarrismo, the rising gelding who has qualified for the Big Dance, now confronts his forthcoming task – validating his black-type aspirations in the Listed The Coast at Gosford.
Yet to place outside the top three in nine races, this gelding has linked three consecutive wins this campaign, extending his streak from Warwick Farm and Doomben into the Orange Cup (1600m) on April 19, thrusting him into Big Dance calculations.
The $3 million Randwick marquee on Melbourne Cup Day represents Sarrismo’s key objective according to Tom Charlton, who is focused on observing the four-year-old’s stakes debut this Saturday.
“That will be his primary aim in the spring,” Charlton said of the Big Dance.
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“I guess we just work out whether this will finish him for the campaign, or whether we push on for one more run.
This preparation, he seems to be putting it together. He’s won his three runs, and looks to be stepping forward each time.
It’s his toughest test, but it looks like the right option to have a crack.”
In the $500,000 Gosford Listed race, Andrew Adkins – successful on Sarrismo at Orange – retains the partnership as the gelding sheds weight to the 53kg allocation from 61kg.
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Up against Group 2 winner Depth Of Character and Rotagilla’s latest success, the event offers a true measure for Sarrismo, with punters installing him at $4.80 favourite on potential alone.
“He will have to improve, but he’s drawn well so he should naturally be able to be ridden in a forward position, which should suit him,” Charlton said.
“We will see where he fits into that next grade.”
Cristal Clear from the Annabel and Rob Archibald yard is an early defection, resulting in 11 runners for The Coast where seven have odds of $10 or less in a wide-open market.
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Visit betting sites for the best sports betting options on The Coast at Gosford in 2026.
Amid the dressing-room crisis Real Madrid are going through, Barcelona’s social media manager posted a tweet to stir up the build-up to El Clásico.
While Barça are focused on being able to clinch the La Liga title against their eternal rival, the news surrounding Los Blancos is about Federico Valverde’s condition after his clash with Aurelien Tchouaméni. And with that in mind, the social media manager took the opportunity to post at that very moment: “Good vibes for El Clásico.”
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Let’s remember that if the Blaugrana get the win, they will secure back-to-back domestic titles. Without a doubt, this is a match that, going in, features two teams in completely different moments.
Travis Pastrana is returning to the NASCAR Truck Series later this month, with the No. 25 Kaulig Racing Ram truck at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The announcement came on Wednesday through the team’s social media channels, immediately drawing strong fan reaction.
Pastrana’s return adds to a program that has already featured a mix of veterans and specialists throughout the 2026 season, as part of its rotating free-agent program. The entry has already featured names like Tony Stewart, Ty Dillon, Colin Braun, Corey LaJoie, Parker Kligerman, and Carson Ferguson, with upcoming appearances from Jamie McMurray and Clint Bowyer.
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Pastrana now joins that list for Charlotte. His most recent NASCAR appearance came earlier this year in the Truck Series season-opener at Daytona, where he finished 15th driving for Niece Motorsports. Fan reaction to the announcement was largely positive.
“Travis is not a bad driver. He could finish top 12.”
Travis is not a bad driver. He could finish top 12
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Others kept it simple.
“Now they’re cooking.”
“OH HELL YEAH,” added another.
There were also suggestions for future entries, with one fan proposing that Robby Gordon and Carl Edwards should also get opportunities in the No. 25 truck.
The reaction highlights how effective the Kaulig Racing rotating model has been. For now, the rotation continues, with A.J. Allmendinger set to drive the No. 25 at Watkins Glen before Travis Pastrana takes over at Charlotte on May 22, 7:30 p.m. ET.
Travis Pastrana’s NASCAR return draws attention as Kaulig’s free agent program builds momentum
(L-R) Cleetus McFarland and Travis Pastrana at Daytona. Source: Getty
Travis Pastrana brings a unique background compared to most drivers in the Truck Series field. He is an 11-time X Games gold medalist with a career spanning motocross, rally racing, and stunt performance. In NASCAR, he has made 50 starts across national series, including 42 in the second tier, where he recorded a pole at Talladega and multiple top-10 finishes.
Pastrana’s Cup debut in the 2023 Daytona 500 resulted in an 11th-place finish. In the Truck Series, he has seven starts, with a best finish of 13th.
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Following his return announcement on Wednesday, Pastrana said in a team statement:
“I love racing and competing at everything, and NASCAR is one of the biggest and most competitive stages on earth. Having the opportunity to hop in the No. 25 Ram truck with Kaulig Racing through the Free Agent Program is an amazing opportunity. These Ram 1500s are so much fun to drive. We’re going to go out there, put on a show for the fans and see what we can do.”
Travis Pastrana’s return fits cleanly into that approach, and based on early fan response, it is one of the more anticipated entries in the program so far.
NFC coach Eli Manning looks on during the NFL Pro Bowl Skills Competition at the UCF Nicholson Fieldhouse in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 1, 2024.(Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA TODAY Sports)
Eli Manning, who threw the touchdown to Beckham in the clip, had some fun with it.
“Guys, I’m not coming back to play! Stop asking,” Manning posted on X.
Manning retired after the 2019 season, ending a 16-year run with the team. Toward the end of his career, Manning struggled, as the team went 9-26 in his starts over the last three seasons of his career.
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Before Manning’s play declined, Beckham was one of his favorite targets. Manning threw more touchdowns to Beckham (44) than to any other player in his career.
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. warm up before a preseason game against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Aug. 12, 2016.(Danielle Parhizkaran/USA TODAY NETWORK)
Beckham was electrifying in New York. In five seasons with the Giants, Beckham played 59 games, catching 390 passes for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns.
He was then stunningly traded to the Cleveland Browns and never recaptured that same form, spending just two and a half seasons with them before they released him.
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The Giants recently brought Beckham in for a workout. He played under coach John Harbaugh with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. The 33-year-old was productive as a depth receiver, catching 34 passes for 565 yards and three touchdowns.
Odell Beckham Jr. started his career with the New York Giants.(Danielle Parhizkaran/USA TODAY NETWORK)
“He and I do talk. We do text,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve maintained a really great relationship. He’s one of my very favorite people in the world. It’s not like you don’t talk to guys on things like that. And certainly we have.”
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“We’ll just have to see where it all goes, what’s best for him, what’s best for the Giants.”
While the Giants have to see where it goes with Beckham, they know for sure Manning is staying in retirement.
In a Wednesday phone interview with The New York Post, the billionaire president learned that American soccer fans are being quoted four-figure fares for even the cheapest seats at an upcoming match.
“I did not know that number,” Trump told the outlet. “I would certainly like to be there, but I wouldn’t pay it either, to be honest with you.”
On StubHub, the most affordable tickets for the U.S.-Paraguay match on June 12 at SoFi Stadium outside of Los Angeles start at $1,056 (£776). That’s higher than the $876 (£643) low for the England vs. Panama game on June 27 at MetLife Stadium on the outskirts of New York City, or the $750 (£551) being asked for the France vs. Senegal face-off there on June 16.
“I would have to take a look at it,” the Republican president said before lamenting that his own voters might be priced out of the tournament, which runs from June 11 to July 19 in over a dozen cities throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
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US President Donald Trump blasted the high price of World Cup tickets, claiming that even he wouldn’t shell out for them. (Getty Images)
“If people from Queens and Brooklyn and all of the people that love Donald Trump can’t go, I would be disappointed, but, you know, at the same time, it’s an amazing success,” he said. “I would like to be able to have the people that voted for me to be able to go.”
Still, the president voiced satisfaction with the five million tickets already sold, declaring, “They’ve never had anything like it.”
“Global football still tries to adhere to this idea of a more populist aspiration about the accessibility of the game. That’s basically become a fiction, and this is the corporatization of World Cups on steroids,” Andrés Martinez, a soccer author, told The Hill.
Some have drawn comparisons to the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022, where the most expensive final ticket was roughly $1,600 at face value. This year, by contrast, the top-priced ticket for the final is about $11,000 at its original cost.
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“It doesn’t feel the same as the previous two World Cups,” Francisco Javier Ferreira, a 70-year-old Mexican soccer aficionado, told CNN. “That’s how it feels to me because even ticket prices are out of reach for everyone.”
Criticism has escalated into legal action, with the fan group Football Supporters Europe filing a lawsuit with the European Commission in March, which accuses FIFA of “excessive ticket prices.”
At the last World Cup in Qatar, the most expensive final ticket sold for about $1,600 at face value. This year, the top-priced ticket for the final, at original cost, is about $11,000 (Getty Images)
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has defended the lofty sums being demanded for this summer’s tournament, arguing they reflect the cost of doing business in the states.
“We have to look at the market; we are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world. So we have to apply market rates,” Infantino said at a conference in Beverly Hills this week. “In the U.S., it is permitted to resell tickets as well. So if you were to sell tickets at the price which is too low, these tickets will be resold at a much higher price.”
He also pointed out that tickets for sporting events in the U.S. are generally expensive.
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“You cannot go to watch in the U.S. a college game, not even speaking about a top professional game of a certain level, for less than $300,” Infantino said. “And this is the World Cup.”
Infantino added that many seats have been reserved at more affordable levels, noting that 25 percent of group‑stage tickets are priced below $300.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) could decide to alter the regulations around replacements after the first block of County Championship fixtures is concluded. Each team has two more games before the competition breaks for the T20 Blast.
During those two rounds of matches, match referees will speak to the directors of cricket at the 18 counties to gain feedback on the trial. The ECB wrote to counties this week to confirm they will be consulted.
The governing body has stressed that the new regulations are a trial, and it will learn each time the rules are applied. The protocols for selecting a replacement player are not new – substitutions for concussions and cases of Covid were in place before this season.
The International Cricket Council has permitted trials for injury replacements to take place in domestic cricket, with India and Australia implementing their own versions.
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Though Anderson admits his team would have been left short of fit players against both Gloucestershire and Durham had replacements not been permitted, he said he was “leaning towards” scrapping injury replacements.
The 43-year-old is the most successful seam bowler in Test history, with 704 wickets.
Anderson suggested he would not ever be permitted to come into a game as an injury replacement, because he would always be more experienced than the player he would be replacing.
“It basically means I’ve got to play every game,” said Anderson.
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“There’s no point me resting, because I can’t then come into a game – I can’t be a replacement, ever. If I get injured, I get injured. There’s more chance of me getting injured if I try to play every game.
“I can be replaced, because no one in our squad has the same experience, but I could never replace someone else.”
LSG vs RCB LIVE Score | Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru LIVE Updates, IPL 2026: Virat Kohli Dismissed For Duck By LSG Star; Sanjiv Goenka’s Reaction Viral
“It’s a very pleasant evening here in Lucknow and a little bit of overcast conditions as well. One of the very few venues this season where the returns for the bowlers are much better than the batters. One of the reason is the size of the playing field here. Now if you look at my right side, it’s 69 and on my left, it’s 64. Straight down it’s 73. It’s quite big, this venue. Now I’ve got Aaron Finch here with me. Now, Finchy, this is on an average, 155 runs scored here. So what do you make of this pitch this evening? Yeah hi Deep, I think it’s a beautiful playing arena. But when you first come down and have a look at this wicket, the one thing that you do notice straight away, there is a little bit of cracking, which is not uncommon at this time of the season. But when you come down and you feel the wicket, it’s quite abrasive,” reckon Deep Dasgupta and Aaron Finch.
Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant admitted that a lack of clarity around roles and constant chopping and changing within the batting order has hurt the team badly during their disappointing IPL 2026 campaign. Speaking at the toss before LSG’s crucial clash against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Lucknow on Thursday, Pant said the franchise had struggled to maintain clarity within the squad, something he believes played a major role in their poor season.
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Justin Langer finds positives in LSG defeat, praises Nicholas Pooran and backs Rishabh Pant
“The only thing is moving with more clarity. We know we are the top players, but at the same time, when clarity is missing sometimes, it can happen in cricket,” Pant said. “So most of the time, the talk is about clarity, and there are a few changes in the batting order, so hopefully we can figure out and take it for the next season,” he added. LSG find themselves in a desperate situation heading into the match. While RCB sit third on the IPL 2026 points table with 12 points from nine matches, Lucknow have managed just four points in the same number of games and are staring at elimination from the playoff race. A defeat against Bengaluru would make LSG the first team to be officially knocked out this season, while an RCB victory would take them to the top of the standings ahead of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings. Pant, who has been under immense pressure both as captain and batter, also stressed the importance of maintaining stability within a T20 side, though he admitted that the team had been forced to explore changes due to their position in the tournament. “Having a stable environment in T20 cricket is essential, but at the same time, when the changes are needed, you should be able to change something, because every time, doing the same thing might not give you the same outcome,” Pant explained. “So trying sometimes, especially where we stand now, trying is not a bad option for sure,” he added. Pant also gave his assessment of the Lucknow surface before the must-win clash and predicted a comparatively better batting wicket than what teams have experienced at the venue this season. “It looks like 180-190 wicket for sure. It’s a better wicket than a lot of the matches for sure,” he said. The season has been equally difficult for Pant personally. The wicketkeeper-batter has struggled to make a major impact with the bat and has scored 204 runs in nine matches at an average of 25.50 and a strike rate of 128.30.
Cheshire-based, leisure charity, Everybody Health and Leisure, has announced the appointment of four high-profile patrons, who will campaign on its behalf in order to raise funds and visibility.
The patrons are retired Paralympic athlete, disability campaigner and sitting member of the House of Lord, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson. Her appointment underlines the charity’s commitment to building its provision for people with disabilities in the borough.
Consultant psychiatrist and bestselling author of the Chimp Paradox, Professor Steve Peters, who has been a consultant to more than 20 Olympic and national sporting teams and individuals has come on board. Peters has supported Everybody in the past, in its partnership with Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) and the To Macclesfield, Love Mia heart-screening project for school leavers.
Two of the charity’s founding trustees – Philip Bland, who was appointed an MBE for Services to the Water Industry – and Zoe Davidson, who has had a long career working in consultancy at KPMG and now Deloitte, have also become patrons. Together the patrons will shine a light on the impact the charity is having and contributing to fund-raising.
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Thomas Barton, CEO of Everybody Health and Leisure said: “It is with great pride that we announce the appointment of our first charity patrons. All four are leaders in their own fields, who have chosen to lend their considerable influence and huge expertise to help us in our mission to help the people of Cheshire East live well, and for longer. You can expect to see more of our patrons in the coming weeks and months as they start campaigning on our behalf.”
Grey-Thompson says: “I have been working with Everybody as the host of their annual awards for a number of years now, and every year I am just so impressed by the passion and dedication of the awards winners and the Everybody team when it comes to providing these life changing services, not only for people with disabilities but for everyone in the community. I look forward to continuing my work with the team and being a champion for this charity in the House of Lords and beyond.”
Separately, the charity has recently developed an exercise and nutrition support programme for people taking weight loss medications. Live Well provides structured lifestyle support to help participants build sustainable healthy habits, stay nourished, maintain strength and feel confident on their weight-loss journey.
The 12-week programme involves one-to-one support with tailored exercise and nutrition plans. Access to exercise classes, swimming and gym facilities are offered at three sites. It is open to adults with a BMI of 30 or above who have been prescribed the medications.
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Everybody was recently assessed for its Social Value and was found to provide £22.08 worth of community benefits for every £1 it receives in funding.
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson will be advocating on behalf of Everybody Health & Leisure / Tanni Grey-Thompson
Demand would be, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in January, equivalent to “1000 years of World Cups at once.” But with a month to go until the start of the 2026 World Cup, tickets remain for most matches and it’s unclear if any games have really sold out.
“The way it looks to me, I would not be too concerned about the hype of the World Cup being sold out,” Gilad Zilberman, CEO of leading secondary market comparison site, SeatPick, told DW.
“I think prices will drop. That’s my gut feeling. I think FIFA is struggling.”
While FIFA failed to reply to a series of questions from DW on demand and sales figures, a recent report from the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) backed up Zilberman’s analysis. It stated that nearly 80% of hotel bookings across host cities are running below initial forecasts. That was, the AHLA said, likely due to a lack of international travelers.
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World Cup protests, prices and politics in focus at FIFA
With visa difficulties, high air fares and other logistical challenges, the tournament is looking increasingly likely to be attended largely by fans from the host countries — the US, Mexico and Canada — who can afford to wait for the price drops predicted by Zilberman and others.
Dynamic pricing and secondary markets key to FIFA in 2026
For this year’s tournament, world football’s governors FIFA have introduced a form of dynamic pricing. The organization has said that they set the prices but adjust them according to demand, as opposed to the more common practice of using an algorithm. This has seen almost daily headlines about extortionate World Cup tickets.
Another new element of FIFA’s ticketing strategy this year is the introduction of its own secondary market, where those who won tickets in a series of ballots can resell their tickets at whatever price they can obtain, with FIFA taking a 15% cut from both buyer and seller. Recently a ticket was listed there for $2,299,998.85 (about €1.95 million) meaning $690,000 (€585,000) for FIFA if it sells.
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The most expensive face value ticket for the final was $11,000 and FIFA expects to gross $3 billion on ticketing and hospitality sales alone. Infantino defended his organization’s ticketing strategy last week.
“We are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world. So we have to apply market rates,” Infantino said. “In the US it is permitted to resell tickets as well. So if you were to sell tickets at a price that is too low, these tickets will be resold at a much higher price.
“And as a matter of fact, even though some people are saying that the ticket prices we have are high, they still end up on the resale market at an even higher price, more than double of our price.”
Is the demand really there?
However, Zilberman says the market data disputes this. SeatPick tracks data from all the major resellers outside of FIFA’s platform, such as Viagogo and Stubhub. He told DW that, at the end of April, 72% of the matches where figures from FIFA and the secondary market are available, the secondary market came out cheaper. DW has tested this and found tickets from resellers to be cheaper in most cases, though assessing direct equivalents is not always possible.
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Zilberman said he understands that FIFA would be “leaving money on the table” by adopting a cheaper, face value strategy such as that employed by UEFA for the Euros, but that they aren’t equipped to use the ticketing strategies they are.
“From previous history of dealing with these type of big tournaments, it often happens like it’s happened right now. They get stuck with a lot of tickets. Dynamic pricing is not FIFA’s expertise.”
He added that those seeking tickets were heading to the secondary markets because they reflect supply and demand. Ticket prices can fall for matches without much demand, unlike FIFA tickets, which are yet to drop in value.
“FIFA is basically doing dynamic pricing by themselves. And they’re trying to emulate what the pricing is on the secondary market and trying to compete and grab the most amount of the pie they can have for themselves.”
Fans urged to wait it out while doubts linger on 2030
FIFA released two separate tranches of tickets, styled as “last-minute sales”, in just over two weeks in April and May after what they had previously said was the final phase. This, said Zilberman, is proof that they are holding back tickets in order, presumably, to impact the market.
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“It could be that they’re inefficient in technology, which wouldn’t surprise me, but I don’t think it’s that. It’s most likely that releasing in batches lets you get the spikes in demand on the day of release, see how the market reacts and utilize dynamic pricing. So, ‘how do I do the least damage to my perception with fans but at the same time maximize my profit?’”
A challenge has come to FIFA’s strategy from the Canadian province of Ontario, which passed legislation in late April banning the reselling of event tickets above face value. While there are some restrictions on secondary markets in Mexico, there are few in the US and Canada until Ontario’s move, which affects prices in Toronto, where resale tickets won’t be able to exceed face value. Football Supporters Europe and lobby group Euroconsumers also filed a complaint to the European Commission in late March over FIFA’s ticketing strategy for the tournament.
“I think they will try, but it’s not the same,” he said. “US platforms in terms of (the) second-hand market are very, very advanced and the consumer is quite acquainted to a price going to five times the value of the primary market release. In Spain, Morocco and Portugal, not so much.”
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It certainly seems unlikely that 2030 will see tickets listed north of $2 million. Even if listed does not mean sold, Infantino has promised any potential buyer that most unusual thing at this World Cup — a freebie.
“If somebody buys a ticket for the final for $2 million I will personally bring him a hot dog and a Coke to make sure that he has a great experience.”
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