Recently, I saw an article in the New Jersey Monitor (Monitor) discussing some people’s frustration hosting World Cup matches thanks to FIFA’s ever-growing list of demands and expenses. Even though taxpayers were “promised a major jolt to our economy,” the matches have instead been a financial drain on local resources.
Let’s go back for a second. Last year, FIFA announced New Jersey/New York as the host for several World Cup matches and the title match.
The first set of reactions was all about how great this event would be for locals:
The Host Committee paid for an economic impact summary, demonstrating the $3.3B impact these matches would bring to the area. The study projected that 1.2 million tourists would visit the area, which would support 26,000 jobs, generate $1.3 billion in labor income, and $1.7 billion from tourism spending. For state and local tax revenue, the total projection was…$431.9M.
Some of you may wonder about the expenses. Not to worry. The Host Committee had $67.5M for “needed preparations, including stadium upgrades and transportation improvements and enhancements.” In fact, the New Jersey governor claimed in 2024 that the state could host the matches right then and there…“for all intents and purposes, we could host this tomorrow.”
But as time passed, both people and organizations began to see cracks. For example, who exactly pays for the costs associated with the World Cup in New Jersey? Didn’t New York and New Jersey agree to split the costs? Yes. Well, maybe. You know what? We aren’t sure.
NorthJersey.com wrote a story explaining just confusing it was to figure out who paid for expenses. New York and New Jersey politicians and taxpayers aren’t that clear either. The newspaper found multiple people, both on and off the record, admitting that with both states and World Cup expenses, “Exactly how that will happen remains unclear.” That happens when there still is no actual, signed agreement between the two states saying that they will share the costs.
“NorthJersey.com and The Record made multiple public record requests to New Jersey state agencies for a contract or other documentation that outlines how the two states would share costs and responsibilities…Requests made to the governor’s office, the Economic Development Authority, the Department of Community Affairs and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority provided no responsive records for contracts or agreements with Office of the Mayor of New York City or any New York city agencies or entities regarding a partnership to host the FIFA World Cup” — 08/23/2023, NorthJersey.com
Speaking of expenses, FIFA seems to want more and more from taxpayers as the games get closer. Last year, one reporter put together just how much taxpayers had already spent on the World Cup. When a reporter inquired about the World Cup’s expenses with a host committee member, that member stated, “It is expensive,” but refused to provide an exact cost estimate. She found out that taxpayers had spent $207M already and had more expenses coming soon. New Jersey Transit admitted that a $12.90 train ride from New York’s Penn Station to MetLife Stadium will cost $150 during the matches.
Why? Because the number of expected riders will cause Transit to spend almost $50M more than usual. It’s a good time to be relying on NJ Transit, considering they are currently dealing with “historic deficits.” The Bergen Record put together a guess on how much New Jersey taxpayers have paid for the World Cup games and found taxpayer expenses over $307M.
Some examples of other recently finished or upcoming expenses:
- They spent almost $16 million changing the field at MetLife Stadium to meet FIFA requirements.
- A new bridge is being built near the stadium with a potential cost of $33.5 million going to taxpayers.
- The host committee received a $15 million loan. They expect to pay back the $15 million by the end of 2026.
- $10 million went to American Rescue Plan funds to buy trucks and equipment “needed to maintain” the stadium
- The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (the group who run the local stadiums or venues) received a $25 million grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation for the World Cup.
- $100M is the estimated cost of construction for the transit issues.
Why is New Jersey paying for anything, considering FIFA sees $14B a year in revenues?
“If FIFA needs security for the World Cup, tell them to pay for it. If the state racks up expenses because of the World Cup, send FIFA the bill.” – New Jersey Monitor, 04/01/2026
One reason can be found in the host agreement that New Jersey’s governor signed when agreeing to FIFA’s requests in 2018. The public rarely has access to the agreement because FIFA makes many demands on host cities. With New Jersey, the public heard about the economic boom that would occur without ever hearing about the actual costs.
The New Jersey/New York Host Committee released a statement claiming that costs would “lean heavily into private and corporate sources.” The governor and other state leaders hyped up that the matches would “generate over $2 billion in economic impact and will support over 14,000 jobs.” But only recently has this agreement leaked into the public, thanks to NorthJersey.com getting its hands on the agreement. The newspaper agreed after “multiple public records requests were improperly denied or delayed, and only after legal counsel reached out demanding the documents.”
If you look at the host agreement, it won’t take long to realize that the TRUE COSTS of hosting will end up in the hundreds of millions. An example appears in the agreement’s transportation section. At the time of signing the host agreement, NJ Transit was hiking fares 15% because of budget issues. Yet, the state agreed to “free public transportation for World Cup ticket holders.” To be fair to New Jersey, it isn’t the only one who was wrong about the costs.
Toronto originally told the public that the cost for hosting World Cup matches would be $45M…then it would cost $300M…then $380M. There are even parts of the hosting agreement that we still can’t figure out today. One part of the agreement states that local officials in hosting cities “shall cooperate in good faith to minimize nonrefundable taxes, duties, and levies in line with applicable legislation and practice.”
But if you still want to go, you may need to sell a few body parts before trying to buy a ticket. Online, sellers are listing four of the best MetLife seats for the last match at $2.29M. Even though New Jersey’s legislature approved $20M two months ago, the expenses from FIFA continue to happen. The Bergen Record put together just how much New Jersey taxpayers have paid for the World Cup games: $307M.
When New Jersey signed the host agreement with FIFA, the clauses required by FIFA were and still are insane:
This is just the beginning of the requirements by FIFA. Is it any wonder that many cities like Montreal, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Glendale, Arizona, dropped their host city bids for the World Cup?