Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. range
    • ex. Last year, concert ticket prices ranged from $50 to $1,000.
  2. a betrayal
    • ex. She felt a strong sense of betrayal when her friend shared her secret.
  3. a tactic
    • ex. The team used a new tactic to win the game.
  4. transparency
    • ex. The government promised more transparency about how it spends money.
  5. bidding
    • ex. A lot of people took part in bidding to buy the rare book.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Soccer fan groups filed a complaint with the European Commission against FIFA over World Cup ticket prices. Football Supporters Europe (FSE) and Euroconsumers said FIFA used its power to set high prices and unfair sales rules. Tickets sold in December ranged from $140 (about ¥22,300) for group games to $8,680 (about ¥1.4 million) for the final. Prices can change because FIFA uses dynamic pricing for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

FSE called the move a betrayal. The groups also said that FIFA used tactics to push fans to buy tickets and had poor transparency in the process. After fans reacted, FIFA reduced some tickets to $60 (about ¥9,500) for all rounds, for teams to give to their loyal fans. FSE asked FIFA to pause price changes in April and stop dynamic pricing in Europe.

Euroconsumers said dynamic pricing turns loyalty into bidding and raises costs. FIFA president Gianni Infantino said demand is very high and all matches will be sold. He warned that tickets may be sold again at higher prices. FIFA said World Cup income is used to support soccer.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

World Cup Ticket Prices and Demand

  • Fans complained about high World Cup ticket prices. Do you think the prices are fair or too expensive? Why do you say so? Discuss.
  • World Cup tickets are expensive, but demand is still very high. Why do you think this happens? Discuss.
  • If you were a soccer fan and had the chance to buy a very expensive World Cup ticket, would you buy it? Why or why not? Discuss.

Dynamic Pricing

  • What do you think about the dynamic pricing system? Discuss.
  • Would you still buy something if the price kept changing? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • If you could design a fair pricing system for big events, what would it look like? Discuss.