Russia’s World Cup is already outrageously expensive

Maybe you’re still mourning Brazil’s catastrophic loss in the World Cup, but the rest of the world has moved on to discussing the impact of the next series, which will take place in 11 Russian cities in 2018. And according to their reports, it’s going to be very expensive. Like $11,500 per seat expensive.

The next World Cup is four years of f, but Russia’s own estimate puts the budget at $40.5 billion, or more than twice the cost of Brazil’s World Cup. Meanwhile, University of Zurich professor Martin Müller, who tallied up the numbers and estimated how much each individual seat being built for the matches will end up costing — $11,500. Compare that to Brazil, which spent $6,500 per seat, or Germany in 2006, which spent $3,200 per seat. The stadium in St. Petersburg, which has been underway since 2007, will have a per-seat cost of $16,500.

It will cost $1.2 billion for the whole shebang. Why are these stadiums going to be so outrageously expensive? Unsurprisingly, delays and corruption issues are going to play a role, just like in Sochi. When FIFA awarded the World Cup to Russia in 2010, a leading advisor to then President Dmitri Medvedev tweeted, “Dawaite bes otkatow,” in Russian.

Loosely translated, it means, “Let’s try to avoid corruption this time.” There’s much to suggest this was little more than a pious hope. Russia is spending on infrastructure too—not just stadiums. Across the cities participating in the World Cup, the event is seen as a driver of investment in new infrastructure that Russia desperately needs. But even within Russia, opposition leaders are questioning the price tag.

“All of these factors, the geopolitical madness and sanctions, are of course a path to Russia’s bankruptcy,” one leader told a local newspaper this week. As Müller points out, Russia’s economy is in trouble amidst the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. The last thing they need is $40 billion wasted on pure spectacle.