Taking the train to New Jersey World Cup games? It’ll cost fans $150
Taking the train to New Jersey World Cup games? It’ll cost fans $150
Andrew Greif Fri, April 17, 2026 at 8:43 PM UTC
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Fans outside MetLife Stadium in 2025. (Robbie Jay Barratt / AMA / Getty Images) (Robbie Jay Barratt)
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 pay just to get to the stadium.
Round-trip train tickets to MetLife Stadium — which will host eight games, including the July 19 final — will cost $150, an elevenfold increase over the typical $12.90 fare.
A bus ride will set fans back $80.
Those prices were announced by New Jersey Transit, the transportation authority that came under 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.
Heimo Schirgi, the chief operating officer for the 2026 World Cup, criticized the price hikes as having a "chilling effect."
President and CEO of New Jersey Transit Kris Kolluri and Gov. Mikie Sherrill stand in front of a new 40-foot bus before a news conference Monday in Kearny. (Kevin R. Wexler / NorthJersey.com / USA Today Network) (Kevin R. Wexler)
Sherrill this week defended the price increases by pointing the finger 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.
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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 responded this week, saying it was “quite surprised by the NJ Governor’s approach on fan transportation.”
FIFA's Schirgi thanked host cities it said are offering "low-cost and often unchanged rates for mass transit to and from match venues." According to FIFA, round-trip mass-transit tickets to venues in Houston and Atlanta will cost $2.50, and $3.50 in Los Angeles.
"Elevated fares inevitably push fans toward alternative transportation options," Schirgi said. "This increases concerns of congestion, late arrivals, and creates broader ripple effects that ultimately diminish the economic benefit and lasting legacy the entire region stands to gain from hosting the World Cup.
"Furthermore, to arbitrarily set elevated prices and demand FIFA absorb these costs is unprecedented. No other global event, concert or major sporting promoter has faced such a demand. While FIFA is projected to generate approximately $11 billion in revenue, not profit, as the Governor incorrectly claims, FIFA has always been a not-for-profit organization as per our statutes. Revenues from the FIFA World Cup are reinvested into developing the game of football, particularly for youth and women, worldwide."
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 via train can only use Penn Station, the authority said that on match days, only riders with match tickets will be allowed between Penn Station and 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.”
Source: “AOL Sports”