iSE-Hospitality offers best World Cup seats

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Some 150,000 of the best seats at the FIFA 2006 World Cup, including tickets for the final, remain unsold and are available for public purchase. Prices start at €1,900 plus sales tax for a package that will allow entry for three early-round games, and go up to €336,000 for a 20-person box at all six matches in Berlin's Olympic Stadium, including the final. Swiss-based company iSE-Hospitality holds the rights to sell a total of 346,950 tickets in a variety of hospitality packages following a public tender from FIFA. Close to half the seats have been sold to date, the company told Reuters.

"The German market is of course challenging, but we are certain we will sell out," iSE Hospitality's deputy chief executive Andreas Hacker said. The pace of sales is in contrast to the rush for tickets by the regular channel on the official World Cup website because of the difference in prices. The initial offering of 812,000 tickets from organisers was oversubscribed by 10 to one and the next significant sales window, when around 300,000 tickets goon the market after December's draw, is likely to prove even more popular.

The ordinary tickets on public sale start at EU 35 for the lowest category seats at opening round games. They go up to EU 600 for the most expensive seats at the final with the cheapest tickets costing EU 90 for the semi-final and EU 120 for the final. The iSE business packages are aimed primarily at firms wishing to entertain clients - the tickets come with food, drink, parking and special stadium access included - but the company confirmed there was nothing to stop any individual with the money securing tickets on a first-come first-served basis. The challenge for the company, owned by iSE AG, which is itself a joint venture by advertising group Dentsu Inc. and communications agency Publicis Groupe, is to ensure they sell their cut of tickets for all 64 games, not just the big attractions. A spokesman for the World Cup organising committee said they could take back any seats from unsold hospitality packages and re-offer them to fans but the company is confident it will not be necessary.