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Los Angeles is gearing up for World Cup madness — but if you’re planning to drive to and park at the games, brace yourself.
With eight matches scheduled for SoFi Stadium from June 12 to July 10, parking costs could soar to $100 or $1,000 per spot, depending on where you look, as hundreds of thousands of fans flock to cheer their team on.
And with limited spots around the stadium, game day could quickly turn into a bumper-to-bumper nightmare. But there’s a dirt-cheap workaround — and it might be the only sane way to get there.
Instead of driving, fans can take the LA Metro for just $1.75 each way — a flat fare that includes transfers and direct access to World Cup shuttles. Metro’s World Cup plan is built around getting people as close to the stadium as possible, without needing a car.
Game attendees can take trains like the C Line or K Line, then transfer to a direct shuttle bus to the stadium, or hop on a regular bus route like the 115, 117, or 212, which stops near the venue.
If you want to drive even part of the way, it’s going to cost. Some early-bird parking rates with Metro’s park-and-ride option range from about $55 to $101, far cheaper than stadium-adjacent parking — and bundled with transit access. The farther away the parking is, the less expensive the rate.
Fans can reserve spots through services like SpotHero before they sell out.
Metro isn’t treating this like a normal game day. The agency says service will begin up to four hours before kickoff, and return trips will run up to two hours after matches end.
To handle the influx, LA Metro launched what they call the “Hat Trick” plan, which includes hiring over 100 school buses to supplement their own fleet. Direct buses will run from multiple hubs across LA County, and more than 10 regional transit agencies are helping move the crowds.
Officials are blunt: traffic near the stadium on match days will be brutal. Roughly 180,000 fans are expected to pour in from around the world, and coupled with limited parking supply, even getting close to SoFi will be an expensive logistical nightmare.
“Instead of paying for some of the most expensive stadium parking or sitting in traffic, people can focus on what matters most – celebrating the love of soccer with fellow fans from around the world while going to and from the games,” Fernando Dutra, Metro Board Chair and City of Whittier Council Member, said in a statement.
Other ticket sites make the $100 Metro parking spots look like a blue-light special, with the cost to simply leave your car within walking distance of the stadium rivaling the price of the actual match tickets. FIFA’s official World Cup parking website lists the prices between $250 to $300, depending on the game, and involves a 22 minute walk to the stadium.
On secondary ticket sites, the prices go from expensive to obscene, reaching up to $1,200 to park onsite at SoFi and up to $700 at a lot located a mile away.
Online, sports fans are slamming the pricing as a “consequence of income inequality of full display.”
“The World Cup and the upcoming Olympics aren’t designed for normal people to attend,” one frustrated local posted on Reddit.
“Average fans don’t have thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars, to attend one game,” another chimed in.
For the price of parking, “a used bicycle is disposable,” another user noted, suggesting fans ride in and ditch the bike at the gate rather than pay for a parking spot more a mile from the stadium.
