Wrexham AFC, a Welsh soccer club in the English league structure, is coming to play a friendly against the Vancouver Whitecaps on July 27.
Wrexham, lounging in the lower league structure for decades, became popular after actors Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) purchased the club in November 2020, and immediately started filming a docuseries, Welcome to Wrexham.
The club secured two back-to-back promotions and will play the 2004-05 season in League One, two steps down from the Premier League. On April 25, the club confirmed it is playing the Whitecaps at BC Place on July 27 as the last stop in their Wrex Coast Tour of North America. They will play three games, the other two being Bournemouth and Chelsea (both Premier League) in two Californian cities.
I am not a fan of any of the mentioned teams, but I have a healthy interest in Wrexham (it’s a feel-good story, anyway) and the Whitecaps (although, it’s Pacific FC [the Canadian Premier League franchise in Victoria] for me). I was interested in catching the ferry to the mainland to watch the game. However, the ticket prices were a little too high. The cheapest I could find on the Ticket Master website was $104 for a single ticket.
Of course, both teams are looking to profit on ticket sales, but that’s far too much considering the standard of soccer from both sides. For instance, the cheapest ticket price for the Whitecaps game against the Colorado Rapids on June 1 is $30, and that’s after tax.
Liverpool is charging $15.38 (or nine sterling) as their cheapest ticket, which would get you into the upper main stand. It goes up from there, capping at $104 (60 sterling). But that can be forgivable, as the Premier League has the highest standard of soccer, and Liverpool is one of the best teams on the planet. Wrexham’s tickets during their season were also $42.72 throughout the season.
What makes it worse is the prices of tickets for the rest of the games on the tour. The cheapest tickets for Bournemouth (July 20 in Santa Barbara) start at $82 (or $62 USD) and $70 (or 50 USD) for Chelsea (July 24 in Santa Clara).
Wrexham, as they have organized the tour, has set the prices for this friendly, which would essentially help enlarge the team’s playing budget for next season, which would surely be on the lower side compared to most of the teams in the league.
However, it may kick them in the butt. Responses on social media have been quite similar to mine.
