FIFA cancels hotel reservation blocks in Dallas, Arlington ahead of World Cup

Posted by AudibleNod@reddit | Dallas | View on Reddit | 38 comments

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AudibleNod@reddit (OP)

Bob Heere, professor of sports management at the University of North Texas, told KERA most games will likely be sold out, but the demand will come domestically rather than internationally.

"The policies of the American government in recent years have sent a clear signal to the rest of the world," Heere said. "And many of them are concerned about coming to the United States."

That sounds a lot like when they start giving away a ton of tickets but parking is still $50.

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FormulaKimi@reddit

They will not give away tickets lol, they would rather have empty seats. But a ton of wealthy people in this country, tickets will be sold out.

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AffectionateKey7126@reddit

"These rooms were set aside for FIFA staff, media organizations, and tournament operational stakeholders," a spokesperson for FIFA told KERA. "As attendance numbers become more concrete closer to the start of matches, FIFA adjusts hotel room bookings accordingly."

It sounds more like FIFA just books a bunch of hotel rooms then figures out who is going where later.

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UnknownQTY@reddit

That's entirely normal for an event of this size.

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FIFA likely reserved those blocks long before Trump's attack on immigrants and visitors began. The new $15,000 visa bond for sure will keep some people from being able to make it to this country for a game, and the way ICE is targeting brown people is just more shit icing on a shit cake.

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AffectionateKey7126@reddit

I seriously doubt a noteworthy amount of people in the groups that were in my quote were impacted by either one of those.

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Dick_Lazer@reddit

They said the hotel bookings were adjusted based on attendance numbers, so I’m not sure what you’re basing that on. “Stakeholders” also includes fans that travel for the event. They may also require less support staff with lower attendance.

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Beautiful_Sipsip@reddit

Speaking of attendance, have you looked at purchasing FIFA tickets? They are sold out for every game in Dallas

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AffectionateKey7126@reddit

A "tournament operational stakeholder" is definitely not a fan.

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ur6ci124q@reddit

100%. This happens all the time with traveling teams and organizations that have large blocks. It's more of a hold on rooms than anything else.

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Tireseas@reddit

That would be the smart thing to do. They likely already have reservation blocks for the next World Cup and maybe even the one after that on paper.

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berryer@reddit

likely reserved before the location is announced, to keep prices low

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Jamesatwork16@reddit

If the demand has to come domestically, at these prices, the prices will have to fall dramatically.

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Comet7777@reddit

Yeah I’ve been a World Cup fan since 94. I follow the sport deeply and I refuse to support FIFA because of these prices. It’s a total racket.

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James-the-Bond-one@reddit

Same. I went to a couple of games in 94 at the Fair Park, and the ticket wasn't $350 in today's dollar.

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OmastarLovesDonuts@reddit

I’m interested in some of the group stage games but am just gonna wait until the day before or even the day of to check ticket prices in case there’s anything that isn’t too exorbitant, otherwise it’ll be a better use of my money to travel to the Spain/Portugal/Morocco World Cup in 2030

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Melonpan_Pup442@reddit

*in recent years"??? More like since the current administration was installed.

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G8M8N8@reddit

Policies of the government huh?
No comment about his boss deciding to axe an anti-ICE show at the college of art that was already installed and paid for?

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HoneyIShrunkMyNads@reddit

This whole thing seems like such a shit show between fifas corruption, trumps corruption and our lack of public transit

Decided to take a vacation in late June to a place that won't host but i fear for this whole event

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Secure_Fly_444@reddit

I agree. I worry about the logistics specially for the games that are in the Dallas area. Everything is so spread out and there is a lack of public transportation.

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I_Can_Barely_Move@reddit

After being in Dallas for the last couple years, I don’t think Dallasites know how transportation works.

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ElGranQuesoRojo@reddit

Wait a minute now, we are pretty dang good at break all traffic laws!

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I_Can_Barely_Move@reddit

The best at being the worst!

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Brantley820@reddit

I've doing as much as I can to prepare my peeps coming from Sweden.

The idea that Dallas is the hub is too simple of an explanation. The World Cup expo is at Fair Park, the team will train in Frisco, and play in Arlington. Not to mention modt will be flying into DFW. Very little to no mass transit will be available, so prepare to spend on ride-share.

The spatial disparity and strong lack of transportation is quietly being ignored when communicating to fans overseas.

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