Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a lottery on Thursday offering 1,000 New York City residents tickets to the 2026 FIFA World Cup [1].
The initiative aims to ensure that local residents can attend the global tournament despite the high cost of standard tickets. By securing a set of affordable seats, the city intends to make the event accessible to a broader demographic of New Yorkers.
The lottery covers seven different matches [3]. Each ticket will be priced at $50 [2]. To further reduce barriers to attendance, the city will provide round-trip bus rides to MetLife Stadium for those who win the lottery [4].
Mamdani said the program is the result of negotiations with FIFA leadership to provide affordable access for the city's population. The mayor's office said that the high cost of sporting events often excludes working-class residents from participating in major international events held in their own backyard.
Residents must enter the lottery to be eligible for the 1,000 available seats [1]. The tickets are specifically for the matches hosted at MetLife Stadium, which serves as one of the primary venues for the tournament in the U.S. region [4].
The city has not yet released the specific dates for the lottery drawing or the full list of the seven matches included in the offer [3]. However, the announcement comes as part of a larger effort to manage the local impact of the tournament and ensure the community benefits from the event's presence in the region.
“1,000 New York City residents tickets to the 2026 FIFA World Cup”
This move reflects a growing tension between the commercial interests of global sports organizations like FIFA and the public's demand for equitable access. By subsidizing tickets and transportation, the NYC administration is attempting to prevent the local population from being priced out of a major event hosted in their own city.
