New Jersey has lowered the round-trip train fare for World Cup spectators traveling from Midtown Manhattan to MetLife Stadium to $105, after initially announcing a $150 ticket for the summer tournament. The price cut came after criticism from Governor Mikie Sherrill and follows a fight over who should pay to move fans to East Rutherford.
MetLife Stadium will host eight matches during the 2026 World Cup, including the final, and the trip from Midtown Manhattan normally costs $13. Sherrill said the agreement with FIFA will cost NJ TRANSIT at least $48 million, while FIFA is positioned to make $11 billion during the tournament. She said FIFA should cover the cost of transporting its fans and that New Jersey would not subsidize World Cup ticket holders on the backs of residents who rely on NJ TRANSIT every day.
The dispute reaches back to 2017, when the United States, Canada and Mexico bid for the 2026 World Cup and promised free public transportation for ticket holders. FIFA said in 2023 that transit could be priced to cover the cost of providing it, a shift that gave hosts more room to charge fans directly. This summer’s expanded 48-team competition now arrives with transportation bills landing on local governments as well as on supporters.
That has become a familiar pattern for cities and states hosting World Cup matches, which are also covering stadium retrofits, security, administration and fan zones. Local organizers say FIFA’s contracts leave hosts with no plausible way to recoup the expense, even as the organization takes in money from tickets, parking, merchandise, on-site concessions, sponsorships and television rights. In the latest exchange, FIFA said it was “quite surprised by the NJ governor’s approach on fan transportation,” underscoring how far the two sides remain from agreement on who should absorb the cost.
For New Jersey, the fare cut eases the blow for supporters but does not erase the underlying dispute. MetLife Stadium is set to become one of the marquee venues of the tournament, and the question now is not whether fans will fill the trains, but whether the state can keep the bill from growing larger than the celebration.
