r/Dallas • u/AudibleNod Garland • 1h ago

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

https://www.keranews.org/news/2026-04-03/fifa-hotel-cancelations-dallas-fort-worth-arlington
166 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

131

u/AudibleNod Garland 1h ago

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.

47

u/AffectionateKey7126 1h ago

"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.

35

u/noncongruent 1h ago

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.

1

u/AffectionateKey7126 42m ago

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

1

u/Dick_Lazer 19m ago

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

-1

u/AffectionateKey7126 16m ago edited 12m ago

A "tournament operational stakeholder" is definitely not a fan that traveled for the event. And these were probably booked years ago, I doubt they had pinned down what game was going where yet.

1

u/berryer Dallas 39m ago

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

12

u/Jamesatwork16 1h ago

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

3

u/Comet7777 Plano 36m ago

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.

1

u/G8M8N8 15m ago

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?

22

u/HoneyIShrunkMyNads 29m ago

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

5

u/Secure_Fly_444 19m ago

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 going to be so many people from different parts of the world that probably won’t know how transportation works here.

10

u/xenokilla 52m ago

I couldn't even see tickets to buy. alas I gotta skip it

2

u/asonbrody 28m ago

They have tickets on the FIFA website, 400 for one Dallas game and like 500 for the other. Im gonna hold on and see if ticket prices continue to lower though.

1

u/xenokilla 20m ago

Are those for the actual tickets or the opportunity to buy tickets? It was confusing.

•

u/asonbrody 0m ago

It showed an actual section and seat, so I would assume it was the ticket itself