Mallorca owner Andy Kohlberg says FIFA's World Cup ticket prices risk damage to the sport's image

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NEW YORK (AP) — The owner of Spanish soccer club Mallorca says FIFA risks damage to the sport's image with its ticket prices for next year's World Cup.

Andy Kohlberg, a former professional tennis player who took control of the club two years ago, spoke following a promotional event on Tuesday and said “the message (that) has gotten out so far has been primarily negative and that’s not a good thing.”

FIFA has refused to put out a ticket price grid for the tournament in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, as it has for every other World Cup since at least 1990, and has said only the most expensive regular seat is $6,730 for the final and the cheapest ticket for the 104-game tournament is $60.

FIFA's website has offered hospitality tickets at prices up to $73,200 per person for the eight matches at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, including the final on July 19.

In addition, FIFA's resale site says the governing body will take a 15% fee from a seller's revenue and charge a 15% fee to a buyer.

“They have to be careful. It’s gotten a lot of bad press,” Kohlberg said. “You have to cater to the mainstream fan and at the same time provide an elevated experience for people who want to pay for that. But you can’t mix them too much with ticket prices at such a high average and alienate the core fan base, which in terms of numbers is a lot higher but in terms of dollar revenues at a stadium event may not be so high.”

FIFA said in a statement “the pricing model adopted generally reflects the existing and developing market practice in our co-hosts for major entertainment and sporting events on a daily basis, soccer included." It added “resale fees align with industry trends across various sports and entertainment sectors” and “the revenue FIFA generates from the World Cup is reinvested to fuel the growth of the game.”

FIFA did not release any additional pricing details.

Kohlberg expressed caution about La Liga's decision to move Barcelona's Dec. 20 match against Villarreal from Spain to Miami Gardens, Florida, the first major European league game to be played in the United States.

“We have to be pretty discerning and careful ’cause it angers some of our fans," Kohlberg said. ”It’s a lot more controversial in Spain, that people get upset when a game is played out of their country and out of their stadium, whereas in the U.S., they welcome the NFL playing in London. It’s not the same over there. It’s a different culture and different mentality, so you have to tread pretty carefully."

Kohlberg hasn't decided whether to attend the match at the Miami Dolphins' Hard Rock Stadium.

“I’ll be paying attention,” he said, “but looking at the media and what the pushback is and has been in Spain and is that subsiding or getting worse? And what’s the American market’s reaction to that game in terms of attendance and fan viewership and what the experience has been?"

Kohlberg, who lives in a San Diego suburb, originally was a non-controlling owner when a group headed by then-Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver took control of Mallorca in a deal announced in January 2016. Former NBA star Steve Kerr and Steve Nash and former U.S. soccer star Stu Holden are among the club's investors, and Kohlberg said another well-known person will be announced soon.

The Spanish league, dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona, has a more difficult task at increasing U.S. interest than England's Premier League.

“With (Kylian) Mbappé and Lamine Yamal, I think it has some momentum and can continue to grow. Our belief is they’ll never be the same with the Premier League but the gap will start to narrow a little bit,” Kohlberg said. “Premier League and NBC have done an incredible job and spent an enormous amount of money and so I don’t think La Liga or ESPN can match that. But they can do enough to close the gap and I think that's the hope.”

Mallorca, which has played in Spain's top division since 1997-98, had a top 10 finish in 2022-23 and 2024-25, won the Copa del Rey in 2003 and reached the 1999 European Cup Winners' Cup final but lost to Italian club Lazio. Its Estadi Mallorca Son Moix was remodeled in a project completed last year, and it has seven premium areas in an effort to attract supporters to a team based in the Balearic Islands.

“We have an element of the population that can and will afford it. But it would be very hard to do what we’re doing in Levante or Elche or Alaves," he said. ”It wouldn’t work. But because we have 18 million tourists coming, there’s a small segment that’ll come to the game."

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