Zohran vs. FIFA is just good politics
Politicans can't go wrong bashing sports leaders. Trump knows that better than anybody.
Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we break down the intersection of sports and money—with an extra bit of humor and opinion. Today, we’re talking politics.
League commissioners and presidents of sporting bodies don’t have fans. No one roots for Roger Goodell. Adam Silver doesn’t have merch. Sotheby’s isn’t auctioning Rob Manfred trading cards. Even in leagues like the WNBA or NWSL, where fans come together across franchise lines to push the sport as a whole, they seem to also always find a shared resentment of the boss.1 Which is what makes them such rich political targets.
On Wednesday, New York mayoral favorite Zohran Mamdani launched a public petition, calling on FIFA to make tickets to 2026 World Cup games—including the final in New Jersey—affordable, including setting aside 15% of seats for locals.
FIFA isn’t going to change. The organization has defended its dynamic pricing strategy, part of a plan to generate $3 billion in ticket sales next year, arguing that the money funds the sport around the world.
But the attack fits well with Mamdani’s affordability platform. It’s good politics. It also puts him in contrast with President Donald Trump, who has embraced FIFA.
First, FIFA President Gianni Infantino was given a prime seat for Trump’s inauguration. In March, POTUS called Infantino “the king of soccer.” Trump then signed off on $625 million in federal funding for security around the games.
What makes this bromance so odd is that Trump has previously seen the political benefits of haranguing sports leaders.
As President-elect, Trump smiled and nodded when asked if he would fire Goodell, if given the chance. He then famously lambasted the league and its leaders over their handling of player protests during national anthems in 2017. In 2021, Trump called for a boycott of baseball when MLB moved its All-star from Atlanta in response to Georgia’s election laws. And as recently as last year, during the 2024 campaign (yes that was really only last year), he said:
Your middle class, which is your biggest sports fans, are being priced out. It's not fair. The leagues are not taking care of their fans. They really aren't. They're making it impossible. A fan will buy one ticket for one game that's sometimes, you know, a nothing game. And that's all that fan can, and been a supporter for many years, they'd have season tickets, all of a sudden the price goes up 10 times and they can't afford it anymore.
Save for the instantly recognizable Trump patter, doesn’t that sound a lot like Mamdani? The technique is actually universal. Republican Senator Ted Cruz recently scolded league officials for how difficult it has gotten to watch a game. His Democrat colleague Richard Blumenthal just threatened to have the WNBA investigated over its handling of a potential Connecticut Sun sale. Others have made a habit of bashing the NCAA.
Fans might say they don’t want politics butting into their sports entertainment, but they all seem to get on board when politicians represent their frustrations.
Trump has gone the other way. Maybe he’s decided that keeping FIFA close is better long-term. Maybe they’ll allow him to use next year’s games as a political tool. Maybe he likes that Infantino has set up shop inside New York’s Trump Tower. But I think he’d gain even more by signing a certain petition.
Eben’s 🔥 Take: Smart of Mamdani to go after the shady Swiss soccer organization for its high prices and not, say, the Mets or Yankees. Plenty of New York politicians have stumbled trying to navigate their baseball allegiances.
But to flip this lens for a second, if it’s good politics for candidates to go after sports leaders, then it’s also good politics for sports leaders to curry favor. I won’t pretend to know what Gianni Infantino actually thinks of Trump, but I do know this: Earlier this year there was a lot of fear in the U.S. soccer world that President Trump—with his visa crackdowns, tariffs, anti-foreigner rhetoric and general volatility—could pose a real threat to the World Cup. Infantino’s cozy relationship has changed that.
As one MLS owner told me a few months ago: “Every time I see Gianni in a box sitting next to Trump I breathe a little easier.”
On the most recent Sporticast episode, we spoke about the bombshell reporting that alleges Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers deliberately circumvented the NBA’s salary cap via a $28 million no-show sponsorship for star forward Kawhi Leonard. It’s a story whose basic premise sounds mighty familiar for college sports fans 👇
Club Sportico is a community organized by Sportico, a digital media company launched in 2020 to cover the business side of sports. You can read breaking news, smart analysis, and in-depth features from Eben, Jacob and their colleagues at Sportico.com, and listen to the Sporticast podcast wherever you get your audio. Contact us at club@sportico.com.
Is Dana White the exception here?