World Cup Tickets a Bargain for Brazilians After Currency's Plunge

Brazil’s free-falling currency is creating a boon for soccer fans seeking tickets to next year’s FIFA World Cup, which will be held in 12 Brazilian cities from June 12 through July 13. The real’s tumble has opened up a 20 percent difference between local and overseas prices. “What an arbitrage opportunity,” says John Welch, a strategist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Toronto who was raised in Brazil and plans to attend the tournament. “Without a doubt, some people will be transferring dollars at the market rate and then buying tickets in reais.”

Soccer governing body FIFA used a rate of 2 reais per dollar in setting official prices for the tickets, which start at $90 for early matches and climb to as high as $990 for the final. FIFA determined its exchange rate for the real in May based on a year-ahead forecast by 30 international banks, the association said in an e-mailed statement. The real dropped as low as 2.45 to the dollar on Aug. 21, the day after tickets went on sale, before recovering to 2.35 on Aug. 26. By converting dollars to reais at that rate and buying the seats in Brazil, the cost of the most expensive tickets would drop to $783. Only residents of Brazil can buy tickets in reais, and they’re limited to one for themselves and as many as three named guests, limiting organizers’ exposure to currency fluctuations, FIFA says.