7 reasons the International Champions Cup should be thrown down a well and left there
By Dan Voicescu
The International Champions Cup is back in full, pointless swing. Here are seven reasons the preseason friendly tournament should be scrapped.
As predictable as a July heatwave, the International Champions Cup is again upon us. Another round of overhyped and overpriced friendly soccer comes to town. The ICC seems to be getting bigger and taking itself more seriously each year. Fans across North America and Asia have the opportunity to see the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Harry Kane in the flesh, but with the ticket prices well into the triple digits, and with the competition becoming more and more self-aggrandized, it’s time to curb this masquerade and throw the ICC down a well.
Overpriced and overrated
For what is essentially a midsummer open training session, the ICC organizers have the gall to charge an arm and a leg. Taking advantage of the locals’ thirst to witness big-name players live and in the flesh, ICC charges exorbitant prices. With the cheapest ticket prices starting at around $100, the ICC organizers are swindling local soccer fans across North America, China and Australia. Fans are asked to pay double or triple the cost of attendance for an official game in the domestic league. Tickets for the Faux-Clasico (Real Madrid vs. Barcelona) in Miami are going for $500 in the upper tier. For that insane amount of money, you’re better off saving for airline tickets and going to see the real thing.
The major American sports have already made attending a live game a luxury experience bordering on unaffordable. Corporate sponsors vying for chunks of tickets to be used for “wining and dining” in order to seal deals have driven ticket prices through the roof.
Soccer has a chance to own the market of affordable, live, in-person sporting events, and to continue being the “people’s game.” Don’t let the ICC’s corporate fat-cats ruin this by putting a shiny bow on what is essentially a 90 minute practice between two teams whose only vested interest in the competition is to fulfill their contractual obligations, which only benefit their owners and corporate sponsors.