ATLANTA – You can’t even blame Fifa for this one. The prices of food and drink at World Cup stadiums, particularly when it comes to beer, are outrageous. There is no uniform pricing standard. Stadiums are allowed to charge as they please.
This is nothing new. Anyone who has paid £7 for a pint of tepid Carling in an English football ground knows that. There is no competition and supporters are a captive audience in a confined area without outside regulation. So prices go high and stay there.
To some extent, I don’t blame the owners of these stadiums. Concessions are their way to generate revenue. The ticket money isn’t theirs and hosting matches is expensive. But it squeezes supporters who have been the repeated butt of every joke at this World Cup.
But one stadium, in one city, is fighting back against the tide of greed and price-hiking. Not only that, it always has. When England supporters walk into the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Wednesday late morning, they will see concession prices that may appear like a hallucination.
Why is Atlanta different?
