Fans weigh record ticket costs vs. rare chance to attend World Cup

CHESTER, Pa. -- A toasty breeze blew in off the Delaware River as several hundred people strolled into Subaru Park in anticipation of seeing the Ivory Coast national team.

It wasn't a World Cup match but rather a community training session, something every competing nation holds prior to its first match in accordance with FIFA regulations.

And like other community training sessions around North America in recent weeks, this one was full of fans who felt this was the closest they would get to the World Cup, finding the tournament's record prices for match tickets to be too expensive.

Among them was Fatoumata Coulibaly, who sat in her orange Les Elephants kit looking on calmly alongside her granddaughter as her national side huddled on the near touchline.

"It makes me very sad that other people are able to have connections to the players and able to go to the games at a price when it's not available to all, especially the people who are from Cote d'Ivoire," she said, translated by her granddaughter.

Coulibaly emigrated from Ivory Coast in 2006 and settled in Southwest Philadelphia's Africatown, one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing communities of recent African expatriates.

And like immigrants all over the United States who suddenly find the team of their homeland in their backyard, she was faced with an uncomfortable decision: How much is a once-in-a-lifetime experience worth?

As of early Saturday morning, the "get in price" for Ivory Coast's Sunday evening match against Ecuador in Philadelphia had climbed to $1,120 on the resale market, according to the website TicketData, up 22% over three days.

For Ivory Coast's group finale against Curacao on June 25, also in Philadelphia, that number was only $324, but also rising.

Ayi Attiwoto, born in Senegal to an Ivorian family, has been monitoring the prices of that final group match, but he probably won't pull the trigger unless the trend reverses and tickets fall to the $150-$200 range.

Because of that, he was willing to make the trip north from his home in suburban Baltimore to see his favorite national team train. But even if he doesn't attend a match, he doesn't necessarily feel FIFA erred in how it priced the tickets.

"I'm not going to say that because we're still waiting for everything to unfold and see what's going to happen and how it's going to happen," he said.

Ultimately, everyone's price is a little different.

Callum Crowley, an incoming sophomore at Syracuse University from central New Jersey and a self-described soccer fanatic, ultimately decided it was worth the splurge. Having fallen for the game after watching the African Cup of Nations, he will be attending Norway-Senegal in East Rutherford, N.J., on June 22.

He also is monitoring the Ivory Coast-Curacao price in hopes it comes down.

But as he watched the training along with others at Subaru Park, he empathized with those who couldn't or wouldn't make the same decision, including some in his own family.

"My dad's a huge fan. He's been to, you know, Euros and World Cups, and he is not, as of right now, going to a game," Crowley said. "And I think a lot of people are going to try and take advantage of more affordable things, like the fanfest being provided, and even just local watch parties and stuff.

"So I do definitely think some very passionate people that are priced out do look at the alternatives that are there."

--Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media