World Cup
Nearly 11,000 special train tickets were sold in the first hour of availability alone, according to transit officials.
Fans walk from the Foxboro Commuter Rail station towards Gillette Stadium before the international friendly between Brazil and France on March 26. Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe
The MBTA’s special $80 Commuter Rail tickets for the World Cup shattered previous sales records in their first day of availability, the agency said.
More than 17,450 round-trip tickets were sold Wednesday, with nearly 11,000 of those being sold in the first hour alone, the MBTA said in a press release Thursday. These tickets covered the first five matches being held this summer at Gillette Stadium, rebranded as Boston Stadium for the World Cup.
“The 2026 World Cup is no ordinary event, and we are privileged to have the opportunity to welcome all to experience Massachusetts,” Phillip Eng, the MBTA’s CEO and general manager, said in the press release. “The tremendous demand during the first day of Boston Stadium Train ticket sales demonstrates that we needed to think outside the box to safely deliver unprecedented train service, carrying fans both near and far to the World Cup matches.”
Past popular events which raked in high ticket sales include the Army-Navy football game and Taylor Swift’s 2023 concerts at Gillette Stadium. However, these sales combined still don’t match the more than 6,200 tickets sold for the June 13 World Cup match between Haiti and Scotland, according to the MBTA.
The organization said it will run “an unprecedented amount of service” during the World Cup, expecting to transport up to 20,000 riders to and from the seven matches on 14 trains per match. By comparison, about 3,000 riders took the Commuter Rail to the March 26 friendly match between France and Brazil, and a typical Patriots game attracts about 2,000.
Eng attributed the MBTA’s ability to withstand this many riders to network-wide upgrades that have been made over the past few years.
“Under the leadership of the Healey-Driscoll Administration and our Legislative partners, we have been rebuilding the rest of our MBTA transit network, including subways, bus, ferry, paratransit, and our workforce,” Eng said in the press release. “With that, all modes will be providing higher levels of service to enable visitors to see and experience even more during their time here – three years ago, we could not have delivered this level of service, and I’m proud of the MBTA team that has worked tirelessly to ensure we could offer this many transit seats.”
The Boston Stadium special tickets are valid for unlimited travel across all Commuter Rail lines on match days, according to the MBTA. This decision was made to give World Cup attendees “more flexibility and options in choosing where to stay.”
Tickets have been made available for purchase on the mTicket app. A full guide to transportation on match days can be found here.
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