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Croatia forward Ivan Peri\u0161ic (left) and England forward Harry Kane at the FIFA World Cup match, June 17, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n
Shafkat Anowar\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Somewhere, in the epic labyrinth that is AT&T Stadium\u00a0\u2014 sorry, Dallas Stadium<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 there are celebrities. The June 17 matchup of England vs. Croatia<\/a> is a coveted ticket, and among the 70,000 or so lucky humans inside the giant silver structure off the highway in Arlington, only a handful have names you\u2019d recognize. \u00a0<\/p>\n Emmitt Smith<\/a> and Dez Bryant<\/a> are here. Brooke Shields<\/a> is probably here, since she dined at Al Biernat\u2019s<\/a> the previous night. David Beckham<\/a> must be here, because he was spotted at the Los Angeles game as the U.S. Men\u2019s National Team beat Paraguay, and since June 17 is England\u2019s first bout in the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a>, what are the chances the most famous British soccer player would miss it?\u00a0<\/p>\n But wherever David Beckham is\u00a0\u2014 ensconced in a high-level suite with Jerry Jones<\/a>, tucked away in a private room near the field\u00a0\u2014 he is not at the VIP Hospitality area on the main concourse, a buzzing hive of mid-level luxury where hundreds of normies are getting a taste of life behind the velvet rope, which apparently includes silver trays of creamy ravioli, rows of mini-cupcakes and all the Stella Artois and vodka sodas you can drink. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n At the open bar inside the VIP Hospitality area hosted by On Location.<\/p>\n Courtesy On Location<\/p>\n On Location is the hospitality group that puts together these VIP experiences \u2014 for the Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four, any number of big-time concerts and now, the World Cup. They\u2019re part of a growing industry that offers access and opulence for fans willing (and able) to pay for it. Along with the VIP designation on my ticket comes an all-you-can-eat buffet, an open bar and an exceptionally good seat on the first balcony tier near midfield. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n When I asked how much tickets to the Dallas VIP experience cost, a representative from On Location avoided actual numbers, saying tickets \u201creflect market pricing at a wide range of price points.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n So OK, let\u2019s guesstimate. The going price on StubHub<\/a> for seats in my general area was $5,000, and we\u2019ll add a thousand bucks for incidentals and ballpark the cost at $6,000. Whatever the amount, it had to be in the thousands, a number that would be unthinkable to our grandparents but doesn\u2019t sound that insane in an era of Ticketmaster price gouging and what my diehard sports buds have called \u201cFIFA piracy<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Outside the walled garden of the VIP Hospitality area, people are waiting in tedious lines for food served in a paper boat, but under the high-vaulted ceilings of this spacious portion of the main concourse, there are white plates with silverware and plush disposable napkins. There are frosty bottles of soda in a retro cooler, help yourself. A woman is sipping champagne from a golden flute. Surely it\u2019s plastic? Didn\u2019t ask. The better, softer life is here in the VIP Hospitality area \u2014 yours for roughly the cost of a used car.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fans support Croatia inside the VIP Hospitality area at the England vs. Croatia match on June 17, 2026.<\/p>\n Courtesy On Location<\/p>\n Exclusivity is a relative term\u00a0<\/p>\n Technically, every person at the June 17 England vs. Croatia match is getting an exclusive experience. They\u2019re at the World Cup. Within that fortunate mass, however, exist hierarchies known to every sports fan. Gone are the democratizing days of sharing a bench at the Cotton Bowl<\/a>, first come, first served. Today\u2019s fandom is a multitiered, multiticketed series of QR codes and add-ons meant to separate you from your savings account.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how many people inside the VIP Hospitality area paid for their ticket. The ones I spoke to had been invited by corporate sponsors, who get a big chunk of these tickets. But I have no doubt many people\u00a0\u2014 some traveling from England or Croatia, so none of this has been cheap\u00a0\u2014 are willing to pay a premium for a bucket-list experience that will go gangbusters on Instagram.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n On Location started in 2015 as the hospitality group for the National Football League, possibly the world leader in elite fan experiences. Headquartered in New York, On Location has since branched into other sports\u00a0\u2014 basketball, baseball, UFC, the Olympics \u2014 and opened offices in London, Raleigh and Los Angeles.<\/p>\n Back in 1971, when the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> opened Texas Stadium, luxury suites were one of its pioneering features. Premium boxes catered to high rollers and\u00a0muckety-mucks, who turned out to be plentiful among football fans. \u00a0<\/p>\n As seen with a fisheye lens, the flags of England (left) and Croatia at the FIFA World Cup match on June 17, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Fast forward 55 years, and today\u2019s football stadiums are a rabbit warren of exclusive suites, private boxes and secret entrances. That\u2019s especially true of AT&T Stadium, which opened in 2009 as the biggest, baddest, most over-the-top facility in the NFL. More than 15 years later, it\u2019s still jaw-dropping. \u00a0<\/p>\n The Brits I spoke to were knocked out by the stadium\u2019s size. And it\u2019s air-conditioned! One delight of the World Cup has been seeing our country through the eyes of foreign travelers. Who knew we had it so good in America, with our Buc-ee\u2019s and free soda refills and adorable yellow school buses? Here in Dallas, where land is vast and AC mandatory, we can build palaces of commerce that rival the Sistine Chapel for scale, if not beauty.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThat is one hell of a television,\u201d said a British guy, pointing toward the Jumbotron.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related<\/strong>: Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight is a lesson in failure and a search for celebrity<\/a><\/p>\n Jerry World vs. the soccer hooligans \u00a0<\/p>\n Perhaps no figure in American culture has been as skilled at fusing sports and capitalism as Jerry Jones, the visionary who brought us AT&T Stadium, where corporate sponsors colonize every square inch, helping make the Dallas Cowboys the most lucrative brand in sports even if they haven\u2019t won a Super Bowl since Friends was on primetime. Each time I enter Jerry World, my mind spins just contemplating the vast fortune being accumulated: tickets, beer, parking. How do people afford this stuff? \u00a0<\/p>\n That went double at the World Cup, where prices have been supersized by demand and opportunism. A friend who attended a World Cup match at AT&T Stadium recently paid $200 for parking. And he wasn\u2019t even close! Quesadillas can run you $26, beer $16. This isn\u2019t for VIP treatment; it\u2019s the going rate. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n English fans dressed as three lions cheer England in a World Cup\u00a0match against Croatia on June 17, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n That live events are financially out of reach for many people is one of the known deficits of modern sports. If that\u2019s a bummer, it also has upsides. Preparing for the England vs. Croatia match, I read Bill Buford\u2019s Among the Thugs, a crash course in British soccer hooligans, who could binge drink and menace their way through matches, in part, because the games were so cheap. That bygone era told a story of class and racial tension, unemployment, the intersection of booze and testosterone, but it\u2019s also a cautionary tale about what can happen when the doors fling open to everyone at no cost. \u00a0<\/p>\n The Brits at the June 17 World Cup match were more balding middle-aged banker than chain-smoking anarchist. They still enjoyed themselves. The night before the game, in a headline that went viral, a Dallas pub had to shut down<\/a> after being wiped out by British soccer fans, who drank 5,000 beers.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Croats were also out in full force at the June 17 match. I was surprised by how many showed up, easy to spot in a red checkered print that made everyone look a bit like a tablecloth in an Italian restaurant. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a very small country with a very big heart,\u201d said Croatian Anto Garic, standing outside the stadium. He was in the fan zone, a happy and high-energy mix of cultures and drinking songs where it felt like everyone\u00a0\u2014 for a moment\u00a0\u2014 was equal. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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