Some of Megan Rapinoe’s loyal following have criticized the USA soccer great for promoting FIFA’s exorbitant World Cup tickets ahead of next month’s tournament.
The 40-year-old Rapinoe, a two-time USA World Cup winner in her playing career, shared a video this week promoting hospitality tickets for the competition on Instagram.
‘With hospitality, you get a guaranteed ticket with a premium seat,’ Rapinoe said. ‘You get to experience the best of the beautiful game.’
But with the iconic tournament just weeks away now, Americans across the United States have been priced out of attending games due to some of the astronomical fees FIFA are charging.
For the hospitality tickets Rapinoe is encouraging fans to buy, they are obviously even more expensive.
FIFA’s website prices a VIP ticket for Qatar vs Switzerland on June 13 at $2,100. A ‘premium seat’ for USA’s second game, against Australia in Seattle, the city where Rapinoe spent a large part of her career, is $2,650 and Brazil vs Haiti is $2,800.
Megan Rapinoe has been promoting FIFA’s extremely costly World Cup hospitality tickets
Two-time World Cup winner Rapinoe was criticized by her fans for partnering with FIFA
‘Sad you are doing this Megan. They have out priced all the fans,’ one of her followers commented on the video.
‘Rapinoe a Shill for FIFA, how the mighty have fallen,’ another fan wrote.
One comment said: ‘Too bad only the 1% can afford it’ while a different user posted ‘Too expensive for normal working people.’
Even President Trump said he thinks the tickets are too expensive. Last month he said that the $1,000 ticket to watch USA’s opening game against Paraguay in Los Angeles is too much.
‘I did not know that number,’ Trump told the New York Post. ‘I would certainly like to be there, but I wouldn’t pay it either, to be honest with you.’
The criticism comes just a month after Rapinoe announced that she was splitting from her fiancee, the former basketball player Sue Bird, after almost ten years together.
The sporting power couple had been dating for nearly a decade after first meeting backstage at a photoshoot for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
They got engaged in October 2020 but never tied the knot.
Last month, Rapinoe surprisingly announced her split with partner of 10 years, Sue Bird
‘There really is no smooth or easy way to share this news. After a lot of thought, we’ve made the decision to separate as a couple,’ a statement read. This hasn’t been an easy decision, but it’s one we’ve made together, with so much love, respect, and care for each other.
‘We’ve shared a whole life over the last decade, through big moments and in quiet ones, and that is something we’ll always carry with us.
‘We are so grateful to this incredible community that has held us up, welcomed us in, and supported us exactly as we are. So many of you have reminded us, again and again, why loving out loud matters.’
The former couple relaunched their podcast, ‘A Touch More,’ in summer 2024, covering women’s sports and the culture around it. They confirmed that, following their split, they will also no longer be recording the show together.
