Days after the high cost of World Cup fees became a political football, officials in New Jersey on Friday revealed the final price fans will face just to get to the stadium.
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Roundtrip tickets via train to MetLife Stadium — which will host eight games, including the July 19 final — will cost $150, an elevenfold increase on the typical cost of $12.90.
A bus ride will set fans back $80.
Those prices were announced by New Jersey Transit, the transportation authority that has come under sudden national scrutiny this week when Gov. Mikie Sherrill vowed that if FIFA, soccer’s governing body, did not chip in to cover an estimated $48 million in costs New Jersey is bearing to host World Cup games, she would have to pass it along to the fans. Adding that she would not make everyday commuters in the state foot the extra costs.
Driving as close as possible to the stadium won’t help riders escape high fees, either. With stadium lots off-limits to fan parking, passes for parking at a mall located in the same complex are selling for $225.
Sherrill this week defended the price increases by pointing blame at FIFA, which she said “put zero dollars toward transporting World Cup fans” in the region’s host agreement with soccer’s global governing body.
“We know that this event will deliver real economic benefits for our communities and businesses. At the same time, hosting cannot come at the expense of New Jersey commuters and taxpayers,” she said in a statement Friday.
Sherrill added that she was “committed to ensuring costs are shared fairly. As I have said repeatedly, FIFA should cover the cost of transporting its fans. If it won’t, we will not be subsidizing World Cup ticket holders on the backs of New Jerseyans who rely on NJ TRANSIT every day.”
FIFA this week responded, saying it was “quite surprised by the NJ Governor’s approach on fan transportation.”
“The original FIFA World Cup 2026 Host City Agreements signed in 2018 required free transportation for fans to all matches. Recognizing the financial strain this placed on the host cities, back in 2023 FIFA adjusted the Host Agreement requirements across all host cities as follows: All Match Ticket holders and accredited individuals shall be able to access transport (public or additionally planned transport) at cost to allow travel to Stadiums on match days.”
To accommodate estimated crowds of 78,000 people per match, New Jersey Transit said it has encouraged local employers to allow employees to work from home. Because fans traveling to matches from New York using the train can only use Penn Station, the authority said that on match days only riders with match tickets will be allowed between Penn Station to New Jersey’s Secaucus Junction starting four hours before kickoff.
Getting to the stadium only represents one hefty price fans will pay. FIFA president Gianni Infantino defended high ticket prices to watch games that will take place this summer across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
“The main, and so far the only, revenue-generating event for FIFA is the World Cup,” Infantino said Friday at a conference in Washington D.C. “The World Cup takes place one month every four years, so we generate money in one month. The 47 months until the next World Cup, we spend that money.”
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