A video of British travel creator Simon Wilson refusing to accept a $150 charge spread online in early July, according to Yahoo Sports. Wilson has millions of followers across YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
In the clip, he filmed himself and three friends pulling into a lot and pressing the attendant on the price. “No, that can’t be right. $150 to park the car?” he said. He asked whether the fee included a car wash, then handed over the money.
The $600 rate he cited for oversized vehicles matches SoFi’s structure, though he did not name the venue.
FOX 11 Los Angeles found official parking starting near $250 ahead of the July 10 Spain versus Belgium quarterfinal at the stadium, with one private lot roughly half a mile from the gates advertising spots for $676.
“It’s insane. This is crazy,” fan Luis Leal told the station, saying operators were exploiting the crowds.
SoFi, temporarily renamed “Los Angeles Stadium” during the tournament under FIFA rules barring non-sponsor branding, sold official World Cup parking passes for $150 to $300, to be purchased in advance by ticket holders, NBC Los Angeles reported.
All 2026 parking runs through JustPark, FIFA’s official partner, with no payment accepted at stadium gates.
A view of the field at SoFi Stadium before a Los Angeles Rams game in Inglewood, California, U.S., Dec. 14, 2025. Photo by Reuters |
Rates have varied sharply by host city. Parking at Houston’s NRG Stadium runs $125 to $174.99 for most matches, with a June 26 fixture starting under $100, Yahoo Sports reported, figures well above the $40 to $50 charged at recent concerts and playoff games there.
Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium peaked near $250 for marquee matches. Near Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, WFAA found parking from $40 to $125, with some lots cutting prices for a second match.
At SoFi and AT&T alike, ride-share drop-off zones sit a 20- to 30-minute walk from the gates.
MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, host of the July 19 final, offers no on-site spectator parking. That pushes the more than 82,000 fans at each match toward off-site lots at the American Dream mall, where rates reached $225 per game, or toward mass transit.
NJ Transit’s dedicated matchday train initially cost $150 round trip before sponsors brought it down to $98, still several times the standard fare, CBS News reported. The round-trip train from Boston to Gillette Stadium runs $80.
Transit is far cheaper in cities with rail lines into the stadium, including Atlanta and Los Angeles, where a one-way ride costs a few dollars.
Neither FIFA nor the individual stadiums have detailed how the parking fees are set or how the money is split between venues and third-party operators.
The tournament, spread across 16 cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, ends July 19.
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