FAILING TO BREAK EVEN: NJ Transit lost $4M during the World Cup

After the FIFA World Cup 2026 New York New Jersey Host Committee boasted that the tournament generated a $3.5 billion economic impact in the region, NJ Transit claimed it absorbed a $4 million loss.

NJ Transit, if you might remember, caused a ton of controversy originally charged fans $150 for round-trips between Penn Station and MetLife Stadium during the World Cup, before it dropped it to $98 per person.

According to NJ.com, NJ Transit spent $55.6 million on World Cup operations — $7 million less than the $62.6 million it had budgeted. However, the agency brought in only $51.6 million in revenue, falling short of its $62.4 million projection, according to the Aug. 24 memo from Chief Financial Officer Jacqueline Stamford to President and CEO Kris Kolluri, NJ.com reported.

“NJ Transit realized 93 percent cost recovery, resulting in a seven-cent loss per dollar spent in support of that service,” wrote Jacqueline Stamford, the agency’s chief financial officer, that was acquired by NorthJersey.com. Normally, NJ Transit loses 85 cents of each dollar spent to provide service to MetLife.

Added Kolluri: “All in all, the performance was good. We moved commuters throughout the eight games with very little issues, and our losses were capped at 7 cents on the dollar, which is, by the way, unheard of.”

Kolluri said that NJ Transit’s loss would be covered by the sale or lease of real estate.

More than 370,000 passengers were transported by NJ Transit for the eight matches at MetLife Stadium.

Between 20,000 and 26,000 fans were transported from New York City to the stadium every match. That was about half of the 40,000 passengers NJ Transit planned for.