Mamdani Announces $50 World Cup Ticket Lottery For New York City Residents

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Thursday that nan metropolis will usage a lottery strategy to administer 1,000 World Cup tickets astatine $50 apiece to residents of nan 5 boroughs.

In collaboration pinch nan New York-New Jersey big committee, nan politician said nan metropolis is besides providing free round-trip autobus proscription to MetLife Stadium successful New Jersey for lottery winners attending nan June matches.

“A World Cup is coming to our backyard, and we want to guarantee working-class New Yorkers person nan opportunity to beryllium portion of it,” Mamdani said successful a Thursday statement. “We sat down pinch nan Host Committee to make definite this tourney belongs to nan group who make this metropolis what it is.”

The 1,000 tickets will beryllium allocated done a lottery strategy unfastened to New York City residents complete nan property of 15, according to a property release. Residents whitethorn participate erstwhile per day, and 150 tickets will beryllium disposable for 5 group-stage matches and 2 knockout-round matches.

The lottery opens May 25 astatine 10 a.m. and closes May 30 astatine midnight. Winners will beryllium notified connected Wednesday, June 3, and will person their summons successful personification astatine nan autobus boarding location, nan mayor’s agency said successful nan property release.

Mamdani made nan announcement successful Little Senegal successful Manhattan’s Harlem vicinity alongside nan city’s World Cup czar, Maya Handa, and 2 members of nan U.S. men’s nationalist team, Tim Weah and Mark McKenzie, on pinch different organization members.

“A kid successful nan Bronx, a information defender successful Queens, a edifice worker successful Brooklyn aliases Staten Island — they are going to locomotion into nan stadium this summertime because their metropolis fought for them to beryllium there,” said Handa.

The summons lottery comes amid backlash from fans complete steep proscription surcharges to be World Cup games.

New Jersey Transit is nan superior supplier of autobus and train work to nan stadium. A train thrust to MetLife Stadium that usually costs $12.90 was initially group to climb arsenic precocious arsenic $150 for World Cup games. But past week, New Jersey Transit said it would trim train fares to nether $100.

Bus tickets, however, stay priced astatine $80.