A picture went around on X about an hour before the World Cup Final at MetLife Stadium began. There was a row of seats that looked like they were pushed up against the grass so close that you could almost smell the grass. The title said they were $1 million. A lot of people who saw it thought it was exaggerated. It wasn’t.
It was always going to be the biggest sports event ever held in North America. The 2026 FIFA World Cup took place in 16 cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico. One hundred and four matches. 48 teams. About seven million tickets. But between how ambitious the tournament was and how people actually ended up with the best seats, a very different economy grew. This one had very little to do with football and a lot to do with managing money.
FIFA’s only hospitality partner, On Location, lists a single Pitchside Lounge seat for the final for $57,500. You might think that number is crazy until you realize it’s the entry point. On top of tickets like these, the seven-figure packages include private boat charters, helicopter transfers, and penthouse suites. Famous people host galas. A package worth $1 million was sold by the events company Medium Rare. It included 10 guests going to a Sports Illustrated gala at Cipriani Wall Street with performances by 50 Cent and Diplo, and then being flown to the stadium by helicopter for the game. The Mark Hotel made its own $1 million package that included a stay in a penthouse for four nights, seats near the middle of the field, and a sailboat cruise past the Statue of Liberty. Then there’s Knightsbridge Circle, a private concierge service that almost no one outside of certain zip codes has ever heard of. They sold a $4 million package that gave six guests front-row seats in the middle of the field for the trophy presentation. Take a moment to think about that last number. Four million bucks. For one game.
On Location is not a small business based on a single deal. It was started by the NFL in 2015 to handle Super Bowl hospitality. In 2020, Endeavor bought it for $660 million, and in 2021, it signed a $1.3 billion deal with the IOC that covers three Olympic cycles, including Paris and Los Angeles. The deal for the World Cup fits the pattern. FIFA thinks that hospitality and ticket sales will bring in $3.1 billion from 2023 to 2026. This is a huge increase from the $949 million that was made during the previous four-year cycle, which included the Qatar tournament. It’s not just growth. That’s a different way to run a business.
The CEO of On Location, Scott Jernigan, has been very open about the fact that people in the U.S. want “unique experiences and curated moments.” He is right about the hunger. People who used to spend a lot of money on floor seats at Madison Square Garden are now thinking about where they can go to see the Champions League final in person. At this level, the World Cup is a natural place for that money to go. It seems like people who work in the hospitality industry saw this coming years before most football fans did.
Here’s the part that doesn’t make it into the brochures… The seats right next to the field that are the subject of so many photos and viral posts aren’t the best for watching football. As seen from the grass level, it’s hard to tell what’s going on on the other side of the pitch. Photographers and security guards often get in the way of seeing. And at MetLife, the section next to the field is on the side of the stadium that doesn’t have any trees, so fans are in direct sunlight the whole game. When you watch the match on a video board for a million dollars, it’s like paying to be close to something you can’t fully see.
It’s really not clear if that matters to the people who are buying these packages. There isn’t really a seat at a football game being sold. It’s being close to the event, having a story to tell, or having a picture that shows you were there. That difference probably doesn’t seem like a contradiction at all to the people who write those checks.
In a quiet way, it makes you think about what the World Cup is becoming, or maybe what it already is. A lot of people still save up money, plan ahead, and fly thousands of miles to see the tournament. It’s true, and that part is important. But the helicopters, penthouses, and million-dollar field passes that are being built around the edges of it are from a completely different world. In this one, football is more of a background than an event.
We still don’t know if that changes anything about the tournament. Most likely not. But it’s hard not to notice that the picture people talked about the most from the 2026 World Cup Final wasn’t a goal or a parade. The picture was of some very expensive chairs that were sitting right on the grass.