FIFA Club World Cup Ticket Prices Plunge — Is There an ICE Factor?

The announcement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be at Miami’s upcoming Club World Cup games appears to coincide with a sharp drop in ticket prices — from around $350 to as low as $20 in some cases, according to StubHub listings. Whether the two are connected is unclear, but interest seems to have cooled.

"On Ticketmaster, FIFA’s official ticketing partner for the Club World Cup, the least expensive tickets to the opener were $349 in December," the Associated Press reported Thursday evening. "As of Thursday, there were tickets available for just under $80."

A June 5 post from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), saying they'd be "suited and booted" for the games, led thousands of commenters to the same conclusion: Federal authorities appear to be using the international competition to enforce President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement efforts. Those fears were all but confirmed earlier this week when ICE announced it would be present at the games.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association's (FIFA) Club World Cup is a month-long tournament showcasing the best club soccer teams from across the globe. It gives fans of the global game a chance to watch teams cross oceans to play one another in matchups that wouldn't otherwise occur.

The tournament will no doubt draw massive interest from South Florida's diverse immigrant communities, especially with several South and Central American teams entering the fray.

A now-deleted social media post from CBP cast a cloud of anxiety over the event, leading many commenters to assume CBP's presence is part of Trump's crackdown on immigration.  Ticket prices began to dip even before the announcements, but fell further after a Homeland Security post and Tuesday’s news that ICE would be at the games — with some dropping from hundreds of dollars to as low as $75.

The opening game at Hard Rock Stadium, set for 8 p.m. Sunday between Inter Miami and Al Ahly, an Egyptian Premier League team, dropped from about $230 to $55 on June 3, according to the Athletic. But even the more coveted matchups between higher-profile teams have dropped in price.

For instance, a ticket to watch Boca Juniors, perhaps the most famous Argentinian club team, and S.L. Benfica, one of Portugal's most recognizable teams, will set you back just $45.

Tickets to Real Madrid vs. Al Hilal, one of the biggest names in the up-and-coming Saudi Pro League, are still about $206, but that's nearly half the price advertised in December, according to reports.

An ICE spokesperson did not immediately return requests for comment.

A CBP spokesman who provided a statement to New Times didn't answer repeated questions about whether CBP would be helping with immigration arrests at the games. He also didn't address why CBP's social media post had been deleted following backlash.