Seeing the beautiful game in New Jersey will come with a truly hideous price tag.
Soccer fans are in for some serious sticker shock for this year’s FIFA World Cup, whether they’re arriving by land, sea or air.
NJ Transit plans to raise prices to an eye-popping $100 for riders traveling from New York Penn Station to MetLife Stadium for the eight FIFA World Cup games being held in the Garden State.
The 18-mile trip from Manhattan to the East Rutherford, NJ, stadium, including a stop at Secaucus station, typically runs $12.90, but the state’s largest transit provider plans to charge an egregious 775% premium for tickets during the World Cup.
The New York Times first reported the news, citing sources familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity.
An NJT spokesperson told the outlet Monday, “The ticket prices for match day travel have not been finalized and any reference to cost would be unconfirmed speculation. However, as the governor clearly stated at an earlier press conference this morning with NJ Transit, the cost for the eight matches will not be borne by our regular commuters.”
Gov. Mikie Sherrill said at the press conference, “We are not going to be paying for moving the people who are viewing the World Cup on the back of New Jersey taxpayers and New Jersey commuters.”
The astronomical ticket prices will reportedly apply across the board, even on tickets for seniors, children and disabled passengers, which are typically discounted.
“Reports of a 775% fare increase applied across the board – to seniors, children, and riders with disabilities – raises serious concerns,” Councilmember Virginia Maloney told The Post.
“As Chair of the Economic Development Committee, I am concerned that $100 a ticket will pose a real barrier for the economic impact of FIFA for tourists and New Yorkers alike.”
New Jersey-bound commuters will even be barred from the NJ Transit portion of Penn Station on gamedays, which will be restricted to World Cup ticket holders only for the four hours before matches, NorthJersey.com reported – six out of eight of which are scheduled during rush hour.
The transit system is expected to make a final decision about World Cup train ticket pricing in the coming days, the outlet writes.
Big Apple soccer fans learning about the proposal gave it a swift red card.
“Wow, that’s kind of outrageous. They’re just piling on the fans, it’s not fair,” Scott Salyers, 53, a firefighter from Detroit, told The Post outside The Soccer Republic at McHale’s, a popular Midtown bar for watching soccer.
“Maybe everybody should come together and say no, we are not paying that, and probably they’d lower the price,” he said hopefully, noting that he’ll be going to a match in Seattle with his kids.
“I tried to get tickets for New York – my first choice – but I couldn’t. Now hearing this, I think it’s a good thing I didn’t get tickets here. In Seattle, I can walk to the stadium.”
Mark Sabinin, 29, a retail worker taking in a game at the pub, was shocked to hear about the sky-high train ticket prices.
“That’s ridiculous. The price of tickets are so high, there’s no way I’d pay $100. I live in New York City where the cost of living is so high.”
He called the planned price hike “a big scam.”
“They are pretty much using the fact that the train is the best mode of transportation to get there. Ubers are going to be way too expensive, or you might not be able to get one.”
He said he expects Big Apple bars to be packed since they canceled the FIFA watch party in New Jersey, and has resigned himself to watching the tournament from home.
Carlos Medina Perez, 30, a construction worker from Queens originally from Ecuador, almost didn’t believe the $100 NJ Transit price tag.
“What? Are you serious? I don’t understand,” he said, looking dumbfounded.
“They are already getting a surge of people coming in from other countries so that’s extra money right there. And then to add this huge increase in fare? That’s greed, there’s no other way to put it,” he added.
“Maybe they are catering to the tourists and not people like me. I’m a construction worker, I don’t make a lot of money, but soccer is big in my culture, it’s in my blood, that’s what I grew up watching,” he said, shaking his head.
Fans attending World Cup matches at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, won’t fare much better, with buses operated by Yankee Line to the stadium priced as high as $95, depending on distance.
In contrast, Russia provided ticket holders with free buses, trams and trains to ferry fans between the 11 host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, including free airport transfers and hundreds of additional trains to cover long distances.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul criticized NJ Transit’s price plan on X, saying attending the World Cup should be “as affordable and accessible as possible.”
“Charging over $100 for a short train ride sounds awfully high to me. That’s not happening on the MTA,” she wrote, though without noting not one MTA train or bus travels to East Rutherford.
Those driving to games can expect to shell out even more for parking at the temporarily renamed New York New Jersey Stadium, which sits upon a sprawling 2.1 million square-foot sea of concrete with roughly 28,000 parking spaces.
JustPark, FIFA’s official parking platform, is offering a handful of spots for a whopping $225 apiece.
The American Dream entertainment complex, which shares a parking lot with MetLife Stadium, has partnered with FIFA to sell a “limited” amount of general parking through JustPark, a mall spokesperson told The Post.
The five group games and one Round of 32 match will sell for $225, while parking for a Round of 16 tilt is going for $300. Pricing for the final has not yet been decided, according to the spokesperson.
“We aren’t putting out the number of spots publicly but I would say less than half of our total spots have been allotted and it’s in the thousands,” he said.
“We’ve agreed that we will continue to look at demand and respond to parking needs as best we can.”
The price for simply getting to the stadium, of course, pales in comparison to the astronomical ticket prices, which as of press time range from $599 for the June 22 Norway vs. Senegal match, to $9,208 for the final, according to SeatGeek.
FIFA announced last week it was raising its top ticket price for the World Cup final to $10,990.
Hotels in striking distance of the stadium are also priced through the roof from the very start of the tournament, which kicks off June 11.
A two-night stay at World of Blue – located just .6 miles from the action – booked through Expedia will run $1,433 for a two-night stay between June 12 and June 14. The Hampton Inn Carlstadt will set fans back $1,450 and the same stay at the SpringHill Suites by Marriott is going for $3,526.
Officially licensed FIFA World Cup merch is also fetching a pretty penny, with FIFA’s official store selling jerseys for up to $180 a pop, scarves for $40 and mascot keychains for $15.
— Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy