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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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Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) – In the aftermath of the Mets’ sixth straight defeat Monday night, shortstop Francisco Lindor sat reclined in a chair, jersey off, chatting quietly with Luis Robert Jr. The only audible noise in the visiting clubhouse at Dodger Stadium came from the scraping of dirt off cleats by the clubhouse attendants. “It sucks going through it, whether it’s early, middle of the season, late,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “You know that at some point during the regular season of 162, you’re going to face adversity, and here we are, pretty early, facing adversity. You’ve just got to find a way to get through it.” Instead, it only got worse from there as the Mets’ losing streak stretched to eight games after getting swept by the Dodgers on Wednesday night. New York was outscored 14-3 over its three games in Los Angeles. Here are my takeaways from the series: 1. The Juan Soto-less Mets offense looks lifeless On Wednesday night, Francisco Alvarez was halfway up the line on a soft groundout to Dodgers second baseman Alex Freeland in the seventh inning when he spiked his bat into the ground, a sign of the growing frustration from a remade offense that has been one of the worst in baseball to this point. The Mets entered the series finale at Dodger Stadium having been outscored by 26 runs over a seven-game losing streak during which they were hitting .182 with a .215 on-base percentage as a team. No other team in that span had an on-base percentage lower than .255. It was a short sample, but up until the Mets lost Soto to a calf injury on April 3, their offense ranked 14th in OPS. They now rank 29th, and the losing streak is up to eight. This week in Los Angeles, New York’s offense was held down by stars and supporting cast members alike. On Monday night, Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski threw a career-high eight shutout innings in the longest outing of his professional career. The next night, Francisco Lindor greeted Yoshinobu Yamamoto with a leadoff home run before Yamamoto retired the next 20 batters he faced. By night’s end, the Mets had scored one run in their last 29 innings. That drought stretched to one run over 33 innings until an RBI double by MJ Melendez in the fifth inning on Wednesday off Shohei Ohtani. It was the only run the Mets scored off Ohtani in an 8-2 loss. 2. No two-way Shohei, but Ohtani’s shoulder looks fine on the mound In the Dodgers’ first at-bat of the series on Monday night, Mets starter David Peterson plunked Ohtani with a 94-mph, 0-2 sinker directly behind the four-time MVP’s right shoulder. Ohtani was in clear discomfort, but he remained in the game and finished the night 0-for-4 with a run scored. After going 0-for-3 with a walk on Tuesday, there came a surprise on Wednesday: For the first time since 2021 — before the “Ohtani rule” was created, allowing two-way players to remain in the game as a hitter even after their pitching outing ends — Ohtani was not in the lineup as a hitter on his start day on the mound. Manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani was still dealing with some soreness behind his shoulder, and he wanted Ohtani to just focus on pitching Wednesday night. He did that job expertly, holding his velocity and cranking his four-seamer up as high as triple digits while striking out 10 batters and allowing just one run in six innings. That one run, which scored on a ground-rule double from MJ Melendez, was the first earned run Ohtani has allowed in the regular season since Aug. 27 of last season. The plan is for Ohtani to return to his usual two-way duties for his next start on the mound. His on-base streak — 48 games, the longest active streak in MLB — is still ongoing. 3. The Dodgers still have plenty of pop from the DH spot without Ohtani Having Ohtani serve only as a pitcher Wednesday night gave backup catcher Dalton Rushing an opportunity to get into the lineup as the DH. He took advantage, breaking the game open with a grand slam in the eighth. Rushing has taken advantage of his few chances as the catcher behind Will Smith. The 2022 second-round pick is 9-for-17 with four home runs. He has recorded a hit in all five games he has played in this year and has homered in three of them. The hit prevented closer Edwin Díaz from appearing against his former team. He was held out of Tuesday’s game after throwing a bullpen session earlier in the day after reporting some discomfort in his knee, but he insisted he was fine. He was warming up, getting ready to enter before Rushing’s grand slam. 4. The Dodgers’ supporting cast is thriving; the Mets’ newcomers … are not Even with Mookie Betts and Blake Snell on the shelf and Kyle Tucker not yet performing to his capabilities, the Dodgers look every bit the juggernaut expected. As Rushing’s power display demonstrated, the supporting players on their roster are helping pick up the slack. Andy Pages ranks fifth among all qualified MLB hitters in OPS and mashed a three-run homer in the opener. Hyeseong Kim, who was playing shortstop Wednesday night with Betts out, started the scoring on Wednesday with a two-run homer after Rushing doubled. The support continues on the pitching staff. Wrobleski, the Dodgers’ sixth starter, spun a gem on Monday. With Díaz down on Saturday, Alex Vesia struck out the side in the ninth to secure the save. As a team, the Dodgers’ offense ranks first in OPS and home runs while their pitching staff ranks second in ERA. The Mets, with Soto down and Lindor struggling, meanwhile, have not received much help from their supporting cast. Bo Bichette has started the first year of a three-year, $126 million deal with a .575 OPS. Marcus Semien is batting .182. Jorge Polanco is banged up and hitting .179. Rookie Carson Benge is hitting .151. Luis Robert Jr. has been one of the bright spots, but his .716 OPS isn’t enough to carry the sputtering offense, which was inevitably going to have a spotlight on it after this winter’s obliteration of the team’s nucleus of players. The early results are … not promising.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) holds a sizable cash advantage over his GOP rivals in the race for New Hampshire’s open Senate seat.
The Democrat raked in $3.3 million to his campaign account over the first quarter of the year as he vies to succeed retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). Pappas, who faces only nominal opposition for his party’s nomination, entered April with $4.2 million in his war chest, according to his Federal Election Commission filing.
Pappas’ leading GOP competitor, former Sen. John E. Sununu, raised $1.1 million directly to his campaign account and had nearly $1.9 million in cash on hand. He spent just $349,000, per his filing — a significantly lower burn rate than Pappas, who spent $2.3 million over the last three months.
Sununu’s primary rival, former Sen. Scott Brown, lagged even further behind. Brown raised a modest $321,000 and entered the second quarter with $783,000 in his campaign coffers. He spent more money than he brought in, according to his filing.
Pappas leads both of his potential Republican opponents in hypothetical polling match-ups of the general election, though his margin against Sununu is slimmer.
Sununu, who has the backing of the national GOP establishment and President Donald Trump in a state Republicans hope to flip, holds a wide lead over Brown, a former Trump ambassador, in polls of the GOP primary.
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Rep. Andy Barr maintained his cash advantage over his GOP rivals in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell in Kentucky.
Barr raised nearly $1.5 million over the first three months of the year and started April with almost $4.2 million in his war chest — more than five times that of his next-closest rival, according to filings from the Federal Election Commission.
Businessman Nate Morris reported raising $1 million and had roughly $580,000 in his campaign coffers to start the second quarter. But nearly half of that — $450,000 — was a personal loan, per his filing. Morris has now loaned himself $4.9 million over the course of the campaign.
Former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron posted another modest haul; he raised $456,000 and had roughly $765,000 in cash on hand.
Barr holds a slim lead in public polling of the contentious primary for McConnell’s seat that has seen all three major candidates scramble to distance themselves from their former boss and embrace Donald Trump. The president has not endorsed in the race.
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Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff holds a massive fundraising advantage over the Republicans hoping to unseat him in November, giving him a head start as the GOP field remains fractured.
Ossoff, considered one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents of the cycle, raised $14 million during the first quarter of the year and ended with more than $31 million cash on hand — a significant war chest that dwarfs the combined totals of his Republican challengers, according to filings from the Federal Elections Commission.
On the GOP side, Rep. Mike Collins led in first-quarter fundraising, raising just over $1 million and entering the second quarter with $2.1 million in cash on hand. Collins has been a front-runner in public polling of the race, but with a large share of voters still undecided ahead of the May primary, the contest appears increasingly likely to head to a June runoff.
Rep. Buddy Carter raised $469,795, but he ended the quarter with more in the bank than his primary opponents — $3.7 million — thanks in part due to a $3 million he loaned his campaign last year. Former football coach Derek Dooley raised $663,502 and has $2.2 million in the bank.
National Republicans are likely to funnel more money into the contest once a nominee emerges, with the GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund already planning a $44 million investment in Georgia. But in the meantime, Ossoff has been able to build a financial lead in what’s expected to be one of the most expensive Senate races of 2026.
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Former Rep. Mary Peltola’s (D-Alaska) staggering first-quarter haul comes with a caveat: She spent a lot to raise a lot.
Peltola hauled in nearly $8.7 million directly to her campaign account over the first quarter of the year in her quest to unseat Alaska GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan. She raised four times as much cash as the incumbent, according to filings from the Federal Election Commission. But she spent nearly $3 million, leaving her with $5.7 million in cash on hand.
Sullivan, meanwhile, raised $1.7 million directly to his campaign account and kicked off April with more than $7 million in his war chest.
Both campaigns have argued they’re in strong financial positions in what is already shaping up to be an expensive race by Alaska standards — one that could help decide control of the Senate. Peltola has an early polling advantage and led Sullivan by 5 percentage points in a mid-March Alaska Survey Research poll.
The candidates are getting a boost from outside groups. Democratic-aligned groups have already put more than $3 million into backing Peltola, per the tracking firm AdImpact. The Senate Leadership Fund, a top GOP super PAC, has pledged to put $15 million into defending Sullivan’s seat and has already placed millions of dollars in ad buys.
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Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) holds an edge over Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in fundraising, well ahead of the state’s Democratic primary in August.
Craig raised $2.5 million in the first quarter of the year, according to Federal Elections Commission filings, besting Flanagan’s haul of $1.3 million. That sets up Craig with $4.8 million in cash on hand, more than the $1.1 million Flanagan has in the bank.
Flanagan’s filing also shows her burning money at a rapid rate: Her campaign spent more than $1 million in the first quarter, nearly as much as it raised.
Campaign contributions are poised to become a wedge issue in the competitive Democratic primary. Flanagan has attacked Craig for accepting contributions from corporate PACs and has pledged not to take their money.
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Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s fundraising haul is dwarfing his opponent’s, keeping Democrats’ hopes of flipping the Ohio Senate seat alive.
Brown raised $10.1 million in the first quarter of the year compared with GOP Sen. Jon Husted’s $2.9 million, according to Federal Elections Commission filings. Brown carries $16.5 million in cash on hand, more than doubling Husted’s $8.2 million in cash reserves heading into both parties’ uncontested primaries in May.
Senate Republicans are planning major investments to help Husted win his first election after he was appointed to Vice President JD Vance’s former seat last year. Senate Leadership Fund, the top Senate GOP super PAC, pledged to spend $79 million in Ohio.
Democrats are hoping Brown, who served in Congress for over 30 years before he lost reelection to Sen. Bernie Moreno in 2024, can put the red-leaning state back within reach.
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