LOW attendance numbers and high ticket prices have plagued the country’s hosting of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship just four days in to the group stage.
PNVF president Ramon ‘Tats’ Suzara lashed out at their dissidents and critics, citing how the opening ceremony that mostly had students from the City University of Pasay comprise the 9,245-strong crowd was a ‘success.’
“Sinasabi nu’ng mga naninira na may empty seats, inaano yung opening ceremony na yung ibang tao raw na-late, pero it was a good audience,” Suzara said.
He even pointed out how every other game that featured fan-favorite teams like USA and Japan expectedly had sizable crowds despite the ticket prices.
“Go watch Japan games, sa Araneta puno, USA last night, dito alas onse na [ng gabi], natapos na pero ang dami pa rin nanood," he said.
“Sabi ko nga if I were a volleyball fan, siyempre ngayong World Championship is 17 days, ‘di ba, Iipunin ko muna yung pipiliin kong larong gusto kong panuorin dahil pagdating ng Round of 16, du’n na yung top 16 and then quarterfinals pa so mahaba pa, ‘di ba?”
The first three days only had an average of 3,182 fans attend the 16 opening matches of the tournament across both the Smart Araneta Coliseum and the Mall of Asia Arena.
Tickets comparable to VNL? Not quite
With tickets selling for as high as roughly P14,000, organizers have resorted to a 30-percent discount on all tickets for the remainder of the group stage.
Suzara defended the ticket rates, comparing to how similar they were with the VNL prices over the last three years that the Philippines hosted.
“We can’t make everybody happy. Siyempre, they have to buy tickets, sasabihin mataas ang ticket pero our tickets have never changed, it’s the same ticket prices in the VNL,” Suzara said.
“Although VNL is only six day, so we came out with a special price for the students, 30 percent discount, buy 1 take 1 para kung gusto pa nilang manuod for the World Championship.”
A fact-check done by SPIN.ph shows how ticket prices between the VNL and the World Championship, contrary to Suzara’s claim, changed significantly.
The most expensive VNL ticket prices when the Philippines hosted the tournament were P2,000 in 2022, P11,000 in 2023 and P5,000 in 2024.
For Alas’ games in the FIVB Worlds alone, courtside tickets are priced at P13,800.
Taking the first three days alone, an average of 5,133 fans attended the MOA Arena games -- a number slightly bumped by Alas' opening match against Tunisia.
Meanwhile, with teams like Japan, world No. 1 Poland and defending champion Italy playing at the Big Dome, a meager average of 2,491 fans per game showed up at the historic Cubao venue.
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