Exorbitant ticket prices have been an issue ahead of the 2026 World Cup, and while games in Mexico and Ontario have laws against resale tickets being sold at more than face value, no such rules exist in the United States. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has secured a bit of a reprieve for New York City residents after negotiations with FIFA.
Mamdani negotiated with FIFA President Gianni Infantino to get 1,000 tickets priced at only $50 per ticket for New Yorkers. They’ll be distributed by ballot to local residents and split across five group stage fixtures, a round of 32 game, and a round of 16 game, all of which will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
“We know that ticket prices for this tournament have soared into the thousands of dollars. There are countless New Yorkers who are desperate to attend the World Cup matches but who simply cannot afford to go,” Mamdani said at a press conference with USMNT forward and Brooklyn native Tim Weah in attendance. “Last year, I said I would change that. I said we had to make it cheaper for New Yorkers to attend these matches, and today, I’m proud to stand here alongside so many leaders in our city and in our region to make it clear that we are doing exactly that. We are making sure that working people will not be priced out of the game that they helped create.”
These are the cheapest tickets that have been available for fans and will also be accompanied by free round-trip bus travel to the games. To prevent scalping, tickets are non-transferable and will be given to winners in person at the bus terminal before they attend matches. Mamdani has spoken out about the issues that dynamic pricing is causing in making games accessible, and things such as this and dismantling New York City’s paid fan fest to instead host free fan fests in each of the five boroughs are ways to combat that price gouging ahead of the tournament.
How to enter the lottery?
It will open at 10 a.m. ET on Monday, May 25, and residents can enter once per day over a six-day period. Daily entries will be capped at 50,000, allowing for a total of only 300,000 entries into the lottery. Verification will be needed, which may be through official state IDs, pay stubs, rental or mortgage agreements, or utility bills.
Winners will be notified by June 3 if they are selected in the lottery and will then have 48 hours to purchase up to two tickets.
This isn’t the first time that Mamdani has been involved in affordable soccer tickets, as he was in attendance at Sports Illustrated Stadium to see Gotham FC take on the Boston Legacy earlier this month, and for that, 1,000 tickets were sold at $5 to the match, a collection that sold out in less than an hour.
During a time when there are questions about many fan-centric issues around the World Cup, such as tailgating restrictions, prices for fan fests, and the ability to attend games, this announcement is a refreshing turn.
