World Cup Final Draws 80,000 to MetLife Stadium as New Jersey Fights FIFA Over Pitch Sales

A Record Crowd, and a Record Bill

Spain and Argentina met at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19 for the World Cup final. President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended along with 80,000 spectators, according to the Straits Times. Another 50,000 fans watched a free party on Central Park's Great Lawn, and New York City ran more than 100 free screenings across its five boroughs.

FIFA capped the tournament with a closing ceremony and a half-time show featuring Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber and BTS, the Straits Times reported.

The New York-New Jersey host committee says the numbers back up the hype. A host-committee study found the group-stage period alone generated $1.2 billion in direct economic impact, according to committee CEO Alex Lasry, who spoke to Bloomberg. More than 400,000 people attended five sold-out group matches at MetLife, and the stadium's shuttle service sold 69,179 tickets for $1.4 million. The Brazil-Morocco opener reportedly produced MetLife's highest food-and-beverage revenue for any event since the 2014 Super Bowl.

Not Everyone's Celebrating

That rosy math is not universal. New Jersey state Sen. Declan O'Scanlon, who represents a central New Jersey district, told NPR affiliate reporting from nenc.news that his constituents are "getting ripped off." O'Scanlon estimates New Jersey has spent at least $100 million hosting matches, a figure he says some experts consider conservative.

His complaint centers on how FIFA structured the hosting deals. Under agreements with all 11 U.S. host cities, local governments cover costs like security and stadium access, largely rent-free, while FIFA keeps most of the revenue. FIFA is projected to earn at least $11 billion from the tournament overall, per the nenc.news report, with essentially none of that shared with New Jersey directly.

FIFA has defended the arrangement by pointing to projections that the U.S. economy could see $30 billion in benefits from hosting, but nenc.news reported that economists have widely dismissed those figures as overly optimistic. O'Scanlon argues the geography works against New Jersey specifically: most visitors are likely spending their money across the river in Manhattan, at Broadway shows and in Times Square, rather than in the Meadowlands. He noted that FIFA markets the host region as "New York New Jersey" even though the games themselves are played in New Jersey.

Host cities do carry most of the operating costs while FIFA, a nonprofit under Swiss law that nonetheless generates massive commercial revenue through broadcast and sponsorship deals, keeps the bulk of the money. Whether that nets out well for a given host city depends heavily on tourism spending patterns that are hard to measure precisely until after the fact.

The Pitch Fight

A more concrete dispute broke out over the MetLife Stadium playing surface itself. FIFA began selling authenticated pieces of the World Cup final pitch through its memorabilia program, with prices starting at $450 and going up to $3,000 for a package that includes a crystal-cut glass trophy replica, according to the Straits Times. Newsweek reported that FIFA's standard offering runs $450 to $1,200 for a 17.5-centimeter-by-17.5-centimeter section preserved in acrylic with a USB keepsake, marketed as "Own a genuine piece of football history."

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill's office objects. "New Jersey paid for the vast majority of the total expense for the pitch at MetLife stadium, so New Jersey taxpayers should share in any proceeds from this latest money grab," Sherrill spokesperson Sean Higgins told Newsweek.

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, the state-created public body that runs the Meadowlands complex, says it spent more than $13 million retrofitting MetLife Stadium's usual artificial turf into natural grass, plus ongoing maintenance through the tournament, all required under the hosting agreement. An NJSEA spokesperson told Newsweek those investments were made "to ensure New Jersey's eight World Cup matches are safe, successful, and well-executed," and noted the hosting agreement itself was "inherited by the Sherrill Administration." This detail places the underlying financial terms with a previous administration even as the current one is left managing the fallout.

Newsweek reported it reached out to FIFA for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication. That leaves open who legally owns the pitch and who is entitled to memorabilia revenue, a question NJSEA's public funding of the field only sharpens.

What's Unresolved

No lawsuit or formal claim against FIFA has been reported. The dispute right now is a public statement from the governor's office against a global federation that has not responded. Whether New Jersey pursues any legal or contractual claim to a cut of pitch-memorabilia sales, and whether the state's broader $100 million estimate for hosting costs gets independently audited against the host committee's $1.2 billion economic-impact figure, remain open questions as the tournament closes.