The state of New Jersey may be currently embroiled in lawsuits with New York City over congestion pricing, but Gov. Phil Murphy made it clear Monday morning: New York was a valued partner when it came to the region’s effort to land the final of the 2026 World Cup — which it did Sunday afternoon.
“We don’t get this without New York City,” Murphy said during a joint appearance with New York City Mayor Eric Adams on “Good Day New York.”
“We don’t get this without Jersey, but I will say emphatically, ‘We don’t get this without New York City.’ And this is a huge deal for the region. Both sides of the Hudson could not be happier.”
The reasons are numerous. But they start with economic impact.
The event is expected to create approximately 15,000 jobs and $2 billion in revenue. The event is expected to draw 1 million visitors.
“This is huge by any measure,” Murphy said.
That includes media exposure. The 2022 World Cup final was watched by a record 1.5 billion people — or nearly 10 times the global audience for the Super Bowl in 2023 (watched by a record 170 million people).
All those eyes will now be on the New Jersey/New York area for the July 19, 2026, final.
Of course, an event such as this will bring hundreds of millions of dollars in costs — on both sides of the river — as the area makes important infrastructure updates.
Murphy said those updates will be paid for with private funding, as much as possible.
“We’re going to raise an enormous amount of money, (New York City Mayor) Eric (Adams) and I and our teams, from private sources — which is the way it should be,” Murphy said.
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Adams said he was thrilled to have an opportunity for the region to show the world how it has recovered from the last time it was in the global spotlight: the pandemic.
“We all know that New York, New Jersey has been on a global stage, due to the wrong reason — the pandemic,” he said.
Adams said he hopes the region will be able to show why it ranks so highly for public safety and fan experience.
As for that lawsuit, Adams said it’s just a typical family “squabble.”
“At the end of the day, we’re family,” he said. “We’re going to be here for each other no matter what the outcome of any topics we go through. And we experienced that today. When we won the World Cup.
“We should be pleased. We are going to be on the world stage to show how great this region is, and how well we have come back.”
