NJ, NY governors cut World Cup transit costs. Where is host committee?
Unlike in Qatar and Russia, where money was no object in past World Cup planning, tensions are high as FIFA navigates American democracy.
New Jersey and New York’s respective governors made competing announcements on the evening of May 12 about how they went to great lengths to lower the prices of tickets to transport people to the 2026 World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium. Conspicuously missing from these announcements was the New York-New Jersey host committee, a nonprofit with a wide-ranging role to hunt down practice fields for teams; coordinate multiple local, state and federal agencies; and execute FIFA’s vision for its tournament, the most popular sporting event in the world, which is taking place in 16 cities across Mexico, Canada and the United States this June and July. Another key host committee task is raising money to support fan events at the stadium and watch parties around the region, and to help pay for logistical needs, such as security and FIFA-required modifications to the stadium and field.
It has also played a critical role in coordinating transportation plans, announcing its own shuttle bus network to the stadium that it will operate at a loss, according to Natalie Hamilton, a host committee spokeswoman. The committee announced last month it will provide NJ Transit with $3. 6 million to help pay for discounts for commuters who will be inconvenienced by the matches, which are forcing trains to divert to other stations while Secaucus Junction and New York Penn Station partially close except to match-goers.
So it was striking when New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced that seven corporations had suddenly stepped up to donate money to bring down the cost of NJ Transit’s ticket to MetLife for match-goers to $98 , and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced she would throw in $6 million in taxpayer money to bring down the ticket price of stadium-bound shuttle buses to $20.
Story continues below photo gallery. Securing those donations and partnerships with corporate sponsors and finding ways to cut prices for fans is among the primary tasks of the host committee. So, what happened?
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