Democrats are adding a new target to their affordability agenda, joining groceries, utilities and landlords — FIFA, the soccer governing body responsible for staging the World Cup.
In New York and New Jersey, which are hosting eight tournament matches this summer at MetLife Stadium, a populist pile-on is being fueled by news that transit officials will close part of the nation’s busiest train station for the exclusive use of ticketholders and charge them more than $100 to get to matches.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat who was elected last fall talking about cost of living concerns, is now catching flak for planning to jack up train fares and also proposing a special tax for World Cup visitors. But she blames FIFA, a commercially minded Zurich-based nonprofit, for raking in $11 billion from the games and leaving local governments to pay for transporting fans.
“They should be paying for rides but if they don’t, I’m not going to let New Jersey get taken for one,” she said in a statement Wednesday.
It’s not the first time or place that elected officials have railed against FIFA. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have all complained about high World Cup ticket costs. But the issues have expanded and criticism crescendoed just weeks ahead of the tournament’s June start and at a time when the economy is likely to drive the outcome of the November midterms in America.
Other Democrats, including Mamdani and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), are taking Sherrill’s side.
Schumer tore into FIFA for collecting billions while ticketholders are being “gouged.” He also blamed the Trump administration, which created a World Cup task force led by Andrew Giuliani, for poor planning and oversight.
“These issues all point to FIFA and the Trump administration failing to protect consumers, while not providing more support to local committees and transit agencies to handle the significant new costs to operate during the tournament,” Schumer said in a statement.
In response, Giuliani blamed Democrats for poor planning and accused them of using the games as a bailout to balance their books.
“New Jersey and New York asked to host these FIFA World Cup Games,” Giuliani said in a statement. “They did so despite these systems being billions in debt because they know very well these historic games will invite an economic boom into their backyards. What do both states have in common? Far Left, failed leadership.”
Both New Jersey Transit, which serves MetLife Stadium, and New York City have struggled with budget gaps. World Cup boosters predict the eight matches will generate more than $3 billion in economic activity for the region, though a recent New York City Council staff memo on the economics of the games said some sports economists “have expressed skepticism” over those numbers.
Sky-high World Cup tickets have long been an issue for Mamdani, who launched a “Game Over Greed” petition during his campaign last year.
Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic strategist, said going after FIFA helps create class distinctions.
“Anything that can be used to create the dissension between those that have and those that have not immediately assists the left and helps Mamdani make his case,” he said.
Ironically, some of the alarm over costs comes as local governments try to avoid subsidizing wealthy ticketholders. That’s why Sherrill’s New Jersey Transit is expected to charge so much to get fans from New York Penn Station to matches at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and back.
Originally, World Cup hosts — in this case New York City and the state of New Jersey — were supposed to provide free transportation to matches. But in fall 2023, FIFA no longer required that, according to someone close to the planning process who was granted anonymity to speak openly.
That meant transit agencies were free to charge special rates to fans. While that’s meant to protect taxpayers, it’s also highlighting just how expensive the World Cup is.
FIFA did not respond to a request for comment.
In New Jersey, officials tallied up the expected costs of providing special train and bus service to World Cup fans — which includes curtailing service for regular commuters — and came up with a $48 million price tag.
Sherrill said she inherited a situation where FIFA is providing no money for transportation and she didn’t want residents to pick up the costs. The state’s transit system, New Jersey Transit, is offering a discount to regular riders on days when matches will disrupt commutes, and the governor has proposed a special tax on the area around the stadium where the World Cup will be held.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has tangled a time or two with New Jersey over transit issues, appeared concerned by New Jersey’s “very high price tag” affecting the World Cup experience.
“We don’t want to throw cold water on it and say, ‘Oh, thanks for coming, now here’s a cost that you never anticipated,’” the Democratic governor said.
But Hochul also said FIFA could be finding ways to support the World Cup.
“I think FIFA should be looking at things to be helpful to this region,” she said.
Asked about the New Jersey Transit fare, Mamdani said “FIFA does offload a lot” of its costs onto local governments.
“I think that there’s a lot more, frankly, that we could be doing in partnership with FIFA to make this a more affordable experience for everyone,” he told PIX11 News this week.
While the federal government has helped with some transit-related infrastructure, the money has not covered transit systems’ expenses. Last summer, the head of the New York New Jersey World Cup Host Committee, Alex Lasry, asked Congress for money to help cushion the costs, citing the past eight Olympic Games held in America, where Congress provided supplemental transportation funding.
Congress and the Trump administration didn’t bite on covering systems’ operating costs, though the federal government is providing hundreds of millions of dollars for security.
And ticket prices to the matches themselves remain a live issue for Democrats.
“If soccer is supposed to be accessible to all fans, then this corporate World Cup would fall far short,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday on World Cup planning.
Sophia Cai and Madina Toure contributed to this report.
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