ROLL UP! ROLL UP?
During a week when Wheel of Fortune made history by paying out its highest ever cash prize to a marketing manager from Connecticut, the first of the 4.5 million fans who have applied for Geopolitics World Cup tickets were selected to buy them through the system Fifa has named after the long-running American gameshow. While Christina Derevjanik walked away with $1,035,155, two different holidays and the best wishes of co-hosts Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White, those who got lucky in the Fifa equivalent will have to pay handsomely for the privilege of getting to watch matches despite not having the foggiest idea who will be playing in them until the draw is made. Although a certain, very small number of tickets for some group games will start at $60 (£44), for anyone who doesn’t mind sitting nearer the Kármán line than the halfway line, the key word is “start” because they could go for a lot more given Fifa’s decision to channel their inner Oasis and embrace the wheeze of dynamic pricing. With the cheapest tickets for next year’s final starting at $2,030 and the most expensive starting at $6,000, England fans hoping to see their team lift the trophy in New Jersey will be forced to budget and may have to stick considerably cheaper pre-match firecrackers where the sun don’t shine.
