Domestic vs. International Soccer Tournament

Picture this – you are browsing the internet searching for quality soccer tournaments your team can participate in for the upcoming season. Knowing the commitment levels of the parents and players on your team, you understand that they want to have their athletes exposed to quality competition, but don’t want to spend thousands of dollars in travel expenses just to play 3 games and head home. This can really limit your options – at least you think so, so you never go outside the boundaries of the United States in search of a top-tier, well organized international soccer tournament. 

While you can undoubtedly save some money for your team by staying local and playing in a tournament just a few miles away, you are missing out on exposure that developing players and teams need in order to bring their game to the next level. Not only that, if you end up traveling via airline, it’s likely that you are going to end up spending more or equal to the amount that you would spend attending an international soccer tournament. All while likely having a much worse experience.

Let’s break this down:

Travel

Costs of flights are never cheap, but to attend a domestic event via airline can add up quickly depending on where you are going. On average, it’s likely that a parent attending an event with their child will spend roughly $600 per ticket, totalling $1,200 before you even get to the actual soccer tournament. Compare that to an international soccer tournament, when if booked early enough, you pay around $800 per ticket or $1,600 before the event.

To go with this, most of the time when traveling via airline to an event, you’ll need a rental car. Rental cars can cost quite a bit per day – roughly around $150 per day (not including gas costs). If you’re attending a 3-day domestic event (2 Nights), that puts the cost around $500 for the weekend.

With the international soccer tournaments, these are all-inclusive events that provide transportation to you and your team, both to the event and any excursions you may want to go on.

So right now we have:

Domestic Soccer Tournament Cost: $1,700

International Soccer Tournament Cost: $1,600

Hotels/Accommodations

Sometimes, if you book early enough and with the rest of your team, hotels can come at a discounted rate. That being said, that “discounted” rate can still add up to $200 per night. Going back to the 3-day domestic tournament example, that has the cost at $400 for two nights if you are staying in one room. Add that to the food cost for meals each day (we valued it at around $200) then you are now at $600 for hotels/accommodations.

On the international side of things, meals and hotels are all included in the cost to attend the event up-front. Everything you’ll need to keep you happy and your athlete(s) fueled will be provided to you at no additional cost.

The Totals

Now that we’ve run through the costs for each type of event, let’s look at the final total:

Domestic Soccer Tournament Cost: $2,300

International Soccer Tournament Cost: $1,600

As you can see, there’s no reason to create excuses as to why your team can’t travel to events outside of the United States. Financially, it makes sense just based on the quick cost breakdown, but there are a variety of experiences and other factors that make attending an international soccer tournament an unmissable experience for parents, players and coaches.

What else do you get by going international?

International events, as we mentioned, are all-inclusive. That means meals, transportation and other accommodations are taken care of which can take a large burden off of parents for planning upon their arrival. Not only that, but all-inclusive in this sense means you’re also getting access to additional trainings and scrimmages while you are at the event to make your time worthwhile. Domestic tournaments in the US often have a 3-game guarantee, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the teams will be highly competitive and worth playing in. Majority of the time, teams in events are matched based on GotSoccer Points which don’t necessarily tell the full story of a team’s level and ability to compete. At an international event, you’ll be facing competition from professional youth academies and clubs all throughout the world which can be both a differentiator and resume builder as players look to further their playing careers.

Speaking of furthering player’s careers and development, international soccer tournaments film all games free-of-charge – there’s no application or additional fee on top of registration fees to access game footage. This is something that can be used for personal development or to turn into a highlight clip down the road. 

To wrap things up, International Soccer Tournaments give players and families the opportunity to immerse themselves in both cultural and athletic experiences at a cost that is almost identical to a domestic event. If you’re interested in checking out some of the great events we have on our radar, you can explore the links below, or head to our tournaments page here.