A fiery public dispute has broken out over exorbitant planned train ticket prices for soccer fans traveling to 2026 FIFA World Cup matches at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, with state officials, political leaders and global soccer governing body FIFA trading blame over who should cover massive event-related security and transit costs.
Local transit officials confirmed Friday that fans making the 36-mile round trip between midtown Manhattan and the Meadowlands Sports Complex, where MetLife Stadium will host eight World Cup matches including the tournament final, will be charged $150 for a same-day round-trip rail ticket. For comparison, a standard round-trip ticket on the same route normally costs just $12.90. Only 40,000 train tickets will be made available to fans for each match, capping public transit capacity for the high-profile games.
Kris Kolluri, CEO and president of NJ Transit, confirmed the flat $150 rate for World Cup match days in a public briefing, clarifying the price covers travel between New York City and MetLife Stadium and back.
After initial reporting on the drastic fare markup by sports outlet The Athletic, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill placed full responsibility for the price hike on FIFA. She explained the state is facing a projected $48 million bill to provide enhanced security for World Cup spectators at MetLife, and she has refused to pass that cost onto regular New Jersey commuters in the long term.
“I won’t stick New Jersey commuters for that tab for years to come, that’s not fair,” Sherrill wrote on social media, noting that FIFA is projected to earn $11 billion in total revenue from the 2026 World Cup, which is being co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. “So here’s the bottom line: Fifa should pay for the rides, but if they don’t, I’m not going to let New Jersey commuters get taken for one.”
Sherrill’s stance drew support from top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, who also publicly called on FIFA to cover all fan transportation costs for World Cup venues. New York Governor Kathy Hochul also joined the criticism, writing on social media platform X that charging more than $100 for a short regional train ride “sounds awfully high” to her administration.
FIFA, however, has pushed back sharply against the criticism, noting that original host city agreements required free fan transportation to all World Cup matches. During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, for example, spectators received free access to Doha’s entire metro system with any valid match day ticket. After negotiations, the agreement was amended to only require transit be offered “at cost” on match days, the organization said.
“We are quite surprised by the NJ Governor’s approach on fan transportation,” FIFA said in a formal statement. The organization added that the 2026 tournament will draw millions of international visitors to North America, generate billions in regional economic activity, and that it has never been required to cover fan transportation for previous major events held at MetLife Stadium, from other top-tier sports tournaments to global sold-out concert tours.
Local media reports also note that $100 million in federal infrastructure funding has already been allocated to U.S. World Cup host cities to cover transit network upgrades and event-related costs. Of that total, the New York-New Jersey region has received $10.4 million, while Boston and Massachusetts have been allocated $8.7 million for their own World Cup preparations.