Notwithstanding FIFA's reputation for corruption and financial mismanagement, the international governing body for football can be credited on one level for devising a system that requires spectators at this year's World Cup to present both a FAN ID and match ticket in order to gain admission into stadiums. This requirement allows the government to conduct background checks on fans to screen for potential trouble makers, but this document-pairing policy effectively eliminates ticket scalping because tickets are useless unless the bearer also has the requisite FAN ID. Of course, this also prevents fans from spontaneously attending matches because they would not in all likelihood have a FAN ID. The new system was piloted at the 2017 Confederations Cup, apparently without great distress; but there will be more than double the number of fans at the World Cup. If this system catches on elsewhere, ticket resellers such as StubHub and Viagogo, which are part of an $8 billion a year secondary-market industry, will be very unhappy campers.
No comments:
Post a Comment