ICE, Iran and $1,000 ‘Cheap Seats’: The World Cup Returns to the U.S.

**Tariq Panja** (0:00)
Just step out of your home, go into the streets and enjoy this thing. Because nothing like the World Cup brings people from all over, whether it's within the United States and the incredible diaspora you've got there, or the fans who will be traveling there. When they get together, this is a magical thing.

**Kara Swisher** (0:33)
Hi, everyone from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This is On with Kara Swisher and I'm Kara Swisher.
The US is just days away from hosting the equivalent of 78 Super Bowls in the span of a month. I'm talking, of course, about the FIFA World Cup. The US is co-hosting alongside Mexico and Canada. It's the world's largest sporting event, and this year's is the biggest in history with 48 teams playing more than 100 games across three countries. It's also arguably the most controversial. That's saying a lot given FIFA's reputation for corruption and scandal. Exorbitant ticket prices, the war in Iran, and fears of immigration sweeps are so far getting more attention than the upcoming games. And President Trump, the winner of FIFA's cynical Peace Prize, is all but guaranteed to insert politics into the picture.
I've got three experts here to talk about the drama around this year's World Cup. Rachel Bachman is a senior sports reporter at The Wall Street Journal, where she's been covering the lead up to this year's tournament. Will Leitch is a contributing editor at New York Magazine and the founder of the sports blog, Deadspin. And Tariq Panja is a global correspondent at The New York Times with a focus on where money, geopolitics, and crime intercept with sports. He's also covered six prior World Cups.
I think it's really important as a business story. I think FIFA has been one of the more appalling international organizations, especially giving Trump that Peace Prize, but the corruption, the ticket prices, everything else has sort of been riveting. And I'm really interested why fans who are at the heart of this, especially fans that don't have the means that more wealthy people have, can't just go and enjoy this stuff in the way they should. All right. Let's get into our conversation. Our expert question comes from my pivot co-hosts and noted soccer fan, he never stops talking about it, Scott Galloway. Don't go anywhere.

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**Kara Swisher** (3:55)
Rachel, Will and Tariq, thanks for coming on On.

**Rachel Bachman** (3:58)
Great to be here.

**Tariq Panja** (3:59)
Thanks for having us. Thank you for having me.

**Kara Swisher** (4:01)
So American soccer has come a long way since it last hosted a World Cup in 1994, it's a very long time ago. But for the uninitiated or uninterested, why is the World Cup a great news story from a cultural, geopolitical and business point of view? Rachel, then Will and then Tariq.

**Rachel Bachman** (4:16)
One of the most interesting things is the World Cup is the biggest event in the headquartered country is the US this year. It's not the number one sport in the US, but it is the number one sport in the rest of the world. So that alone makes it interesting.

**Kara Swisher** (4:29)