When Seattle Seahawks fan Stephanie Daniel and her husband wanted to attend Super Bowl LX in VIP fashion, they couldn’t call any old travel agent. Instead they tapped On Location, a company that designs bespoke experiences for the Olympics, FIFA, the NFL, and more—ensuring those with deep enough pockets don’t just enjoy a game, but feel like they’re running plays. Seventy-five hundred dollars later, the couple were mingling with NFL legends Earl Thomas and Adam Vinatieri at an all-inclusive pregame tailgate. From their vantage point behind the end zone, Bad Bunny’s halftime show felt more like being serenaded, and witnessing their team win before their very eyes, “was electric in every way,” says Daniel, a voice actor.
An even more eye-popping “tier” included private concerts by Sting and the Killers; a Napa Valley brunch hosted by Julian Edelman and Megan Rapinoe; club-level sideline seating; a chef-curated menu and open bar; and an opportunity for clients to trot their designer footwear onto the field as the Seahawks were hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy, showered in blue and green confetti. That would set a high roller back at least $17,500 per person. Tack on access to a sprawling field-level 50-yard-line lounge and a private dinner with your favorite retired quarterback, and the cost is disclosed only to those brave enough to face consumerism’s most formidable three-word phrase: “price upon request.”
Once relatively niche, sports tourism has gone up with the Dow. According to the World Economic Forum, in 2023 the sector was valued at $609 billion; that figure is expected to swell to $1.7 trillion by 2032. Given what some will pay to kick their fandom up a notch—thousands of euros for a few rounds of golf ahead of the 2027 Ryder Cup in Ireland; five figures for a concierge on speed dial at the 2028 Olympic Games in LA—it’s a reasonable estimate.
Who is actually buying these things? Well, rich people. People who “are going to Michelin restaurants and five-star hotels; people who are very discerning,” says Paul Caine, president of On Location. Of course the most luxurious way to experience a game is in the owners box. But if that’s just out of reach, if not aspirational, for these Very Discerning People, this kind of access is a way to get “closer than ever to the game,” he says. At the 2026 FIFA World Cup, taking place across North America, “some people will be on the pitch,” Caine explains. City-specific off-site excursions are planned too—like literal breakfast at Tiffany’s in New York, celebrity training sessions in LA, and a dance workshop with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in Texas.
How much are the top-tier World Cup experiences going for? Unfortunately, if you have to ask, you probably can’t afford them anyway.
