New Yorkers hoping to catch a FIFA World Cup match without paying sky-high prices may soon have a cheaper way into MetLife Stadium.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday that the city, working with the NYNJ Host Committee, has secured 1,000 discounted World Cup tickets for NYC residents.
The tickets will cost $50 each and include free round-trip bus transportation to the New Jersey stadium, where the region’s eight World Cup matches will be played.
“Ticket prices for this tournament have soared into the thousands of dollars,” Mamdani said at a press conference in Harlem’s Little Senegal. “There are countless New Yorkers desperate to attend a World Cup match, but who simply cannot afford to go.”
The lottery will open Monday, May 25, at 10 a.m. at www.regnyctix.com and close Saturday, May 30, at midnight. New Yorkers ages 15 and up can enter once per day, with a daily cap of 50,000.
The Mamdani administration said winners will be notified on Wednesday, June 3, and will be allowed to buy up to two tickets.
Mamdani said the lottery will be limited to city residents, with eligibility verified before tickets are issued.
“The only people that can sign up are New Yorkers, and we will verify that they are New Yorkers through a process that we have full confidence in,” Mamdani said. “We are going to ensure that there is representation from each borough across the five boroughs.”
The discounted tickets will cover five group-stage matches and two knockout-round games, with about 150 seats set aside for each match.
Mamdani said the city is trying to make sure residents do not need political connections or insider access to get into the stadium.
“Your chance on getting these tickets is not impacted at all by who you know,” he said. “We want to open the tournament to working people who couldn’t otherwise afford it, not to scalpers.”
City officials said the tickets will be nontransferable to prevent scalping. Winners will receive their tickets directly at the official bus pickup location on match day, where they will also board the free shuttles to the stadium.
Mamdani said no taxpayer funding is going toward the ticket allocation, describing it as the result of talks with the NYNJ Host Committee.
Mamdani has been pushing for cheaper access to the tournament since before he was elected mayor. As a candidate, he launched a “Game Over Greed” campaign calling on FIFA to lower ticket prices, scrap dynamic pricing and cap resale costs. More recently, he has criticized the overall cost of attending matches — including transportation to MetLife Stadium — as state and transit officials moved to reduce some fares following public backlash.
At Thursday’s event, Mamdani said he had raised affordability concerns “both publicly and privately,” and credited FIFA and the host committee not only for the ticket program but also for helping make the city’s World Cup fan fests free.
“We want these to be moments where New Yorkers can experience the thrill of the game,” Mamdani said.
NYC World Cup Czar Maya Handa said Mamdani had been pushing for a cheaper World Cup experience from the beginning of his administration.
“From the first conversations that we had after I came on board, the mayor has been pushing for ways to make the World Cup more affordable to all New Yorkers,” Handa said.
Alex Lasry, CEO of the FIFA World Cup 2026 NYNJ Host Committee, said the program had been in the works since before Mamdani took office.
“From the beginning, even before he took office, him and I spoke about the need to make sure that this World Cup was affordable and accessible to all New Yorkers,” Lasry said.
U.S. soccer star Timothy Weah also appeared at the announcement, calling the program “healthy for the community and for New York.”
“As a kid, it was always a dream to be up here and to be in stadiums playing,” Weah said. “If I can help the next kid get to that stage, I think it’s a wonderful feeling.”
