New Jersey is preparing to hand out nearly a thousand free World Cup tickets, the state's governor announced, as the tournament's arrival in the region draws close. Speaking at Hackensack University Medical Center, the New Jersey governor said the state had teamed up with the hospital to give out hundreds of tickets to people who might otherwise never have had the chance to attend a match. The move was presented as a way to share one of the biggest sporting events in the world with those who deserve it most.
The recipients were chosen with a particular focus on those connected to the hospital and the surrounding community. The tickets are going to children who are special patients at the medical centre, including some who have battled cancer and undergone treatment there, as well as to first responders and many of the hospital's staff. In all, more than 700 tickets are being distributed to people who may have thought a World Cup game was simply out of reach.
The giveaway followed a similar gesture across the river in New York. There, Mayor Mamdani had offered a thousand tickets to residents at a price of just 50 dollars. In New Jersey, by contrast, there is no price tag attached at all, with the tickets handed out for free. Even so, demand meant that some recipients had to take part in a lottery in order to win one of the seats on offer.
The hospital itself added to the total being distributed. The chief executive of Hackensack University Medical Center, Bob Garrett, announced that another 200 tickets were being donated by the hospital. Those tickets, too, are set to go to first responders, including police officers and firefighters, along with staff at the medical centre, widening the group of people set to benefit from the effort.
Taken together, the contributions bring the number of free tickets close to a thousand. Nearly 1,000 New Jerseyans are now in line to receive tickets to attend the World Cup, which is being staged in part right in Bergen County. For many of them, the gift turns what had seemed an impossible prospect into a genuine chance to see the tournament in person, at a stadium close to home.
The governor framed the announcement as one of several ways fans could take part in the tournament. She thanked everyone who had helped make the dream of going to a World Cup game possible, and pointed to the different ways people could follow the action. Whether inside the stadium, watching with family and friends at one of the fan zones, or catching a game at a bar, she said, there were now more opportunities than ever to get to the games.
The ticket announcement came alongside another change aimed at the tournament. In New York, officials said that bars and restaurants across the state would be allowed to stay open until 4 a.m. for the duration of the World Cup. With the tournament now only days away and matches set to be played in Bergen County, the measures together reflected the scale of the preparations under way across the region to welcome fans and visitors.