1,000. That's how many World Cup tickets New York City has reserved for residents, at $50 each, the city announced May 25, 2026. The allocation covers seven matches at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with roughly 150 tickets available per game and free round-trip bus transport included for ticket holders. Winners will be selected by lottery, may buy up to two tickets, and will receive nontransferable seats handed out in person at the bus boarding site.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the program in Harlem's Little Senegal on May 25, saying the city had secured 1,000 seats from the New York New Jersey host committee to make matches at MetLife Stadium affordable for local residents. The seats come with a $50 price tag and complimentary round-trip bus transport from the city to the roughly 82,000-seat venue in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

"We are making sure that working people won't be priced out of the game that they helped to create," Mamdani said at the announcement. City officials framed the allocation as a targeted affordability measure aimed at service workers and other New Yorkers who might otherwise be shut out by high secondary-market prices.

How the lottery works

The tickets cover seven matches at MetLife Stadium: five group-stage games and two knockout-round matches. City officials said the allotment translates to roughly 150 tickets per match. Entry opens via the city's lottery for New York City residents; winners will be selected at random and given the opportunity to buy tickets under the local program. To limit resale on secondary markets, the city said the seats will be nontransferable and that physical tickets will be distributed in person at the bus boarding site on game day.

Officials said there will be multiple residency verification steps before distribution, and that the on-the-day handoff is a key safeguard against scalping.

Mastheads

The city emphasized that no tickets in this local program cover the July 19 final, noting that some secondary market listings for that match were being offered at prices approaching $33,000.

Pushback from New Jersey

The move prompted immediate criticism from New Jersey officials who said the program excluded state residents. A spokesperson for New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said the arrangement showed long-running frustrations about how ticket access has been handled between the two jurisdictions. The brief from the city said the allocation came from the NYNJ Host Committee and required FIFA sign-off, reflecting months of negotiation to ensure discounted seats would reach genuine attendees.

Two New Jersey members of Congress sent a letter to FIFA raising concerns about the tournament's ticketing policies and called for broader steps to lower prices for fans. City officials defended the New York program as the product of those negotiations and the necessary sign-off from FIFA, and said the entry caps and on-site distribution were designed to keep the seats out of resale channels.

Maya Handa, the city's World Cup czar, said the program is intended to put lower-cost seats into the hands of service workers and other New Yorkers who otherwise might be excluded. The combination of a low face value, included transport, residency verification, and an in-person handoff is central to that promise, she added.

The city release stressed the practical mechanics: a limited pool of tickets from the host committee, a multi-day lottery window, a fixed $50 price, nontransferable ticketing, free bus transport, and several verification layers before tickets change hands. Those measures aim to deliver a small but visible slice of World Cup access to local fans who helped stage the tournament.

Related Articles

Roughly 150 tickets per match will be awarded by lottery; winners may buy up to two $50 tickets and must pick them up in person at the bus boarding site, a safeguard the city says will curb resale.

This article was created with AI assistance.