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Corporations turn down Byrom Bros Hospitality Packages . . . but first, how FIFA desperately woos the fans
By Andrew Jennings
Sunday January 31, 2010
Before dawn on Friday January 22, FIFA’s World Cup ticket office sent an email world-wide to their master list of diehard fans, urging them to apply for ‘tickets for all matches.’
They pleaded, ‘Do not forget, the FIFA World Cup™ is a one-off experience and the atmosphere at every game will be unforgettable.’ You would think fans knew this already.
This begging-the-world-to-buy wasn’t surprising. For several weeks I’ve been digging out stories of fans boycotting official tickets and rip-off prices for South Africa 2010.
Minutes later one of the world’s most prolific black market ticket dealers was booming down my phone. ‘This is amazing. I have never believed that I will see a letter like this one and I mean ever. What is the world coming to?’
He also thought FIFA was being a bit naughty. The email urged fans to apply for the more expensive tickets. ‘There is a higher chance of being successful when requesting Category One tickets,’ wheedled FIFA’s sales staff. You wonder what bonuses they are promised.
And it appeared to work. Five days later a breathless FIFA media office pumped out the web headline: Two million tickets sold!
‘We are particularly happy with the results of ticket sales,’ said South Africa’s Danny Jordaan. He reportedly added, ‘We are over the moon.’
More likely the crossbar.
All is not as FIFA wants us to believe. My friend with the large bag of tickets educates me. ‘They have not gone to fans and there hasn’t been any surge in sales. Why? Agents who paid the $30,000 fee to be authorised by FIFA also had to commit to buy thousands of tickets.
‘A lot of these two million tickets are still at the wholesale stage, gathering dust in our inventories. We just hope they can be retailed. By the way, can I interest you in Category 1 for England and Holland?’
An English fan told me that the cheapest seats for the Group stage in Germany was $49 – but had been jacked up to $88 for 2010. ‘This is unacceptable to most fans – and the fact that the cheapest Final ticket has risen from $168 to $440.’
The FIFA blazers, faced with global complaints about their overcharging, changed the subject at last Wednesday’s press conference and counter-attacked, accusing the media of being unfair to the hosts. ‘It is crazy and completely wrong,’ said FIFA’s Number Two suit, Jerome Valcke. ‘Give South Africa a chance.’
Valcke casually mentioned that, yes there is a shortage of flights and gosh, their high cost was a ‘problem.’ Some might think that Mr Valcke, Mr Jordaan and FIFA’s preferred World Cup ticket sellers, the Byrom brothers Jaime and Enrique of Manchester, via Mexico, are the problem.
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