Nova York Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Thursday a raffle program that will provide one thousand Mundo Copa tickets to city residents for fifty dollars each. The initiative reacts directly to FIFA’s dynamic pricing policy, which has increased the cost of tickets to hundreds of dollars for most matches. Marca is the first time a host city has created a ticket access program specifically aimed at its residents.
The announcement took place in the Little Senegal neighborhood, at Harlem, where Mamdani was accompanied by community leaders and US Seleção Masculina players Tim Weah and Mark McKenzie, both New Yorkers. The event reinforced the mayor’s commitment to making Copa of Mundo accessible to the communities that will host it.
Distribuição of tickets and lottery structure
The draw will distribute approximately one hundred and fifty tickets per game across seven tournament matches at MetLife Stadium, at Nova Jersey, with the exception of the final. The winners will receive seats in the upper stands of the stadium, which has a capacity for eighty-two thousand people, as well as bus transportation to and from the venue. Winning Cada will be able to purchase up to two tickets, and these tickets are non-transferable to ensure they go to genuine fans and not scalpers.
The draw system opens on May 25th at 10am Eastern Time and closes on May 30th at 5pm Eastern Time, with a maximum limit of fifty thousand daily entries. The parties included in the program present important confrontations:
- Brasil x Marrocos
- França x Senegal
- Equador x Alemanha
- Panamá x Inglaterra
- A round of 16 game
- A round of 16 game
Crítica from Mamdani to FIFA pricing
Mamdani, an avowed football enthusiast who made accessibility a central point of his mayoral campaign, made clear his frustration with FIFA’s approach. The federation initially set a minimum price of sixty dollars for the cheapest tickets, but later implemented dynamic pricing that increased costs exponentially as the games approached. In early 2026, FIFA released a limited batch of tickets priced at sixty dollars, representing only around 1.6% of available seats.
The mayor publicly stated that many people who deeply love football cannot afford to go to games. Essa actually undermines the atmosphere of the tournament and creates a scenario where scalpers and investors acquire tickets faster than genuine fans can access them. The result is a Copa of Mundo frequented by people more interested in making money than those excited about experiencing the most popular sport in the world.
Colaboração parallel to FIFA
The initiative represents a collaboration between the mayor’s office and the organizing committee of Copa of Mundo of Nova York-Nova Jersey, structured deliberately outside of FIFA’s control. Essa distinction is important because the federation maintains operational control over official ticket sales and has resisted pressure to implement more comprehensive accessibility measures. The Mamdani program demonstrates that there are alternatives to the revenue maximization model adopted by the federation.
Transport Problemas also faced
Transportation costs became another point of contention. New Jersey Transit initially priced round-trip train tickets from Penn Station to MetLife Stadium at one hundred and fifty dollars, while regular fares were thirteen dollars. Após public criticism, the price dropped to one hundred and five dollars. Espera bus options between the city of Nova York and the stadium cost eighty dollars per ticket.
Mamdani’s lottery program addresses both concerns by pricing tickets at fifty dollars and including transportation, making the total cost accessible to many more New Yorkers than FIFA’s market-driven approach could ever reach. The mayor set a price of fifty dollars that includes transportation, meaning that middle-income families were able to participate in Copa and Mundo without compromising their monthly budgets.