New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani proudly announced a deal Thursday that will allow New Yorkers — and only New Yorkers — to buy 1,000 World Cup tickets for $50 each. And before he even finished his press conference, New Jersey officials made it clear what they thought of an arrangement that leaves them out.
“FIFA not caring about costs for New Jersey residents isn’t new,” said Stephen Sigmund, a spokesman for N.J. Gov. Mikie Sherrill. “This is just another reason why Governor Sherrill is working hard to lower costs on our own.”
Officials in both states told ESPN that they see the deal as a reward to Mamdani for wooing FIFA and the New York-New Jersey Host Committee, while Sherrill is essentially being punished for her criticisms of both since taking office in January.
The perception that New York is the favored child seems to be a source of pride for both states.
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One New Jersey official said the Garden State will soon be offering its own discounted ticket program, but with the support of corporate sponsors, not the host committee or FIFA.
A spokesman for Mamdani declined comment on the dynamic. Under the deal Mamdani announced Thursday morning, the tickets are coming from the host committee’s own allotment, which were purchased from FIFA at face value.
Two sources familiar with negotiations said the deal needed FIFA’s approval, and that Mamdani had worked with FIFA President Gianni Infantino since March to get it.
“We are making sure that working people will not be priced out of the game that they helped to create,” Mamdani told reporters.
Two New Jersey members of Congress, Democrats Nellie Pou, who represents the district where the stadium is, and Frank Pallone Jr., said they aren’t happy with the deal. They sent a letter to FIFA two weeks ago asking for explanations about FIFA’s ticket policies, which they called “opaque” and “potentially deceptive.”
“This publicity stunt does nothing to address the cost of tickets,” they said in a joint statement Thursday. “One thousand tickets spread over seven games, by our math, amounts to 0.17% of available tickets for those games. FIFA must respond to our inquiry on their questionable ticketing practices and take broader measures now, right now, to lower ticket prices for all the fans. Time is running very short for real action.”
A FIFA source said the deal was between the host committee and Mamdani’s office.
“FIFA was only involved to the extent that it wanted to make sure the discounted tickets went to fans who genuinely planned to attend the games and be in the stadium,” the source said, which the parties satisfied by saying fans won’t get their tickets until they board a bus to the games.
A source with direct knowledge of World Cup planning conversations said the host committee doesn’t agree that anyone is playing favorites.
“In terms of what the asks have been, it’s been different for both sides of the river, but it’s not a reflection of the relationship between the host committee and either side,” the source said. “The host committee is working with the governor’s office and the mayor’s office daily and they just have different priorities. Mamdani ran on this affordability campaign and today he fulfilled a campaign promise.”
For Mamdani’s administration, the deal is a sign that the mayor has been engaged with Infantino with the same patient, head-down diplomacy that led to his surprisingly cordial meetings with President Donald Trump in November and February.
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For Sherrill, the alleged slight to New Jersey is the price of a governor standing up against a deal she thought was bad for her state.
Sherrill has been clear that she was not pleased with the deal her administration inherited from the previous governor, fellow-Democrat Phil Murphy, whose wife, Tammy, is the chair of the host committee’s board of directors. Sherrill said the original deal signed by then-Gov. Murphy left New Jersey residents with too much of the cost of transportation and security.
In his statement on Sherrill’s behalf, Sigmund trumpeted steps she has taken, “including securing $3.6 million to discount tickets for NJ Transit riders whose commutes are impacted by the World Cup games, and why we are maximizing the economic benefits and excitement of the games throughout the State.”
Soon after taking office, Sherrill canceled the planned fan fest in Liberty State Park, in part because she felt the event would be more accessible to New Yorkers arriving by boat than New Jersey drivers negotiating what can be brutal traffic to the park, as ESPN recently reported. Instead, she announced that the state would reallocate $5 million for the fan fest to a series of community-based events around the state.
Sherrill’s administration also raised the cost of a round-trip from Manhattan’s Penn Station to $98 dollars on game days, drawing the ire of New Yorkers and international fans. Sherrill has said the burden for an estimated $48 million in additional transit costs should be borne by visitors, not New Jersey residents.
Under the ticket program announced Thursday, New Yorkers will be able to register for a drawing that will take place Monday morning. The 1,000 tickets will be spread over the seven games leading up to the final, which will also be played in New Jersey. The city will also provide free bus transportation for those fans.
As of Thursday morning, the cheapest tickets available for New York-New Jersey through FIFA’s last-minute sales website were $1,550 to see Norway play Senegal in the group stage.
