NEW YORK (AP) – In an exciting announcement, some fortunate residents of New York City will soon have the opportunity to purchase affordable tickets for this summer's highly anticipated World Cup event. Mayor Zohran Mamdani revealed on Thursday that 1,000 tickets priced at just $50 will be offered to the city's 8 million residents for the most widely watched sporting event globally.
Mamdani, speaking from a bar in Harlem's Little Senegal neighborhood alongside U.S. men’s national team player Timothy Weah, humorously compared the ticket price to the cost of five lattes in New York City. This effort highlights the mayor's commitment to making significant cultural events accessible to local residents.
The ticket allocation includes about 150 tickets per match for seven out of the eight games hosted at the approximately 82,000-seat MetLife Stadium, located just across the river from Manhattan in New Jersey. Notably, the July 19 final is not included in this initiative due to the high demand for tickets, with some seats currently marketed at nearly $33,000.
As part of the initiative, the tickets will come with free roundtrip bus transportation to the stadium. The distribution process will commence through a lottery system starting on May 25. To combat scalping, Mayor Mamdani emphasized that measures will be implemented to ensure that tickets go to New York City residents and are not resold in the secondary market. The tickets will be non-transferable, and various verification methods will be utilized to confirm residency.
Mamdani stated, “We are making sure that working people will not be priced out of the game that they helped to create,” reflecting his administration's broader commitment to affordability beyond just necessities such as housing and groceries. The mayor believes that participation in significant events contributes to the collective human experience and is essential for all New Yorkers.
During his campaign, Mamdani had previously urged FIFA, the global governing body of soccer, to provide New Yorkers with cheaper ticket options by reserving 15% of the tickets at discounted prices for residents. He even launched a petition advocating for FIFA to reconsider its policy on ticket pricing based on demand.
The $50 tickets are not directly issued by FIFA but are sourced from the pool allotted to the joint host committee for New York and New Jersey. This follows FIFA's earlier decision to release $60 tickets for every game in the North American tournament after facing backlash regarding ticket prices.
FIFA's previous discounted tickets were allocated to the national federations of participating teams, with each federation determining the distribution to loyal fans based on their attendance at past games. Besides the final match, MetLife Stadium is scheduled to host five group stage matches and two knockout stage games, featuring soccer powerhouses such as Brazil, France, Germany, and England, starting on June 13.
This initiative not only aims to enhance accessibility to the World Cup for local residents but also showcases New York City's commitment to inclusivity in major global sporting events.
