Boston’s World Cup host committee has announced it will be providing a bus service to and from Gillette Stadium during the World Cup — for which they will charge passengers $95 per seat.
Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) confirmed it intended to quadruple its usual prices for a round-trip train ticket from the center of Boston to Gillette Stadium during the 2026 World Cup. This hiked a return rail ticket from $20 for NFL games involving the New England Patriots, up to $80 for the 27-mile journey during the World Cup.
Now, Boston’s host committee has rolled out a bus service to take fans to the stadium in Foxboro, for an even higher price of $95. As with the train service, there will be no concessionary prices for children, adults over 60 or for passengers with accessibility needs. The Athletic reported last week that the price may be as high as $90, but the final announced price on Tuesday morning came in even higher at $95 (£70).
The service, known as the Boston Stadium Express, will be operated in partnership with Yankee Line, a Massachusetts-based motorcoach company, and says it will aim to serve 10,000 fans per game.
A new release said the bus service will have over 20 strategically located pickup points across Greater Boston and the surrounding region, including the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence and Boston Logan International. The committee is also collaborating with over 100 hotel properties across the region to provide close-by pick-up and drop-off locations. The buses will provide service from three hours before a game, with the return service leaving the stadium around 30 minutes after the final whistle.
Tickets must be purchased in advance and require a valid, same-day World Cup match ticket in order to board. The news release warned locals and visitors to “expect road closures, turn restrictions, and traffic shifts around downtown Boston and Boston Stadium during the Tournament” (Gillette Stadium will be known as Boston Stadium during the World Cup).
Gillette Stadium last month hosted a friendly between France and Brazil (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Sources close to the Boston host committee, speaking anonymously as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, argued that the operational services of the transportation and logistics of the World Cup bring costs which it must seek to recover through its ticket pricing.
Sources also pointed out that that bus services for large-scale events such as the Taylor Swift Eras Tour at Gillette Stadium were priced at around $75 per seat — they say the World Cup pricing needs to be higher due to the larger amount of co-ordination and pick-up/drop-off options provided.
The host cities are attempting to claw back revenue to offset the vast expenses they have taken on for the World Cup. FIFA, whose president Gianni Infantino has forecast $11billion in revenue from this tournament, takes all income from ticketing, broadcast deals, in-stadium sponsorship and even official parking fees during the competition.
At the same time, cities have taken on overall responsibility for costs, including “safety, security and protection”. This extends to public areas, FIFA fan fest locations, airports, other transport hubs and vehicles used in competition. It also includes providing police escorts for teams, referees and FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his delegation. The host city is also expected to provide medical services and fire protection around matches free of charge.
In return, FIFA has claimed the U.S. will see money pour into its states and cities via tourism and excitement, citing $30billion in economic impact, but several city executives, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, are now doubtful that they will meet these expectations.
The bus and train services in Boston have a relatively captive market for the World Cup. The press release says there will be no free or general parking like there would ordinarily be at Gillette Stadium, while the breadth of FIFA’s stadium perimeter on matchdays also means tailgating, a staple of U.S. sports events, will not be allowed.
Official FIFA parking spaces for the matches at Gillette Stadium are $175 for cars (including accessibility parking) during the group stage, rising to $220 for the round of 32 game and $270 for the quarter-final game. For oversized vehicles, it is $600 in the groups, $780 in the round of 32 and $980 in the quarter-final.
Gillette Stadium, home to the NFL’s New England Patriots and MLS team New England Revolution, is owned by the Kraft Group, headed up by multi-billionaire Robert Kraft. The 65,000-seater venue is scheduled to hold seven matches during the World Cup, including a round-of-32 game and a quarter-final.
The group-stage games include two Scotland matches, against Haiti and Morocco, England’s game against Ghana and a fixture between Norway and France.
For soccer fans attending the World Cup, however, this is yet another cost for supporters, compounding the highly expensive World Cup tickets and hotels this summer.
During the 2022 men’s World Cup in Qatar, official ticket-holders received free access to Doha’s metro system throughout the tournament. Similarly, at the 2024 European Championship in Germany, match ticket holders also had access to free public transport on game day in host cities.
The U.S. was never likely to follow the lead on this, with cities and states seeking to recover huge investments into the World Cup via the proposed economic impact of the tournament, while the Qatar central government poured vast sums into its competition as a part of a broad state-building project.
Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe, previously called the $80 train prices for World Cup matchdays “completely unprecedented”, claiming the single objective of the tournament now appears to be “extracting as much money as possible from a captive audience.”
He added: “Charging fans for making the safe and environmentally responsible choice of using public transport also makes a mockery of FIFA’s climate strategy and its net-zero commitments.”
