The World Cup final is in New Jersey…

by | Mar 13, 2024 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

For the first time since 1994, the Fifa World Cup has returned to the United States, as well as Canada and Mexico. This has been known for a handful of years now, but the looming question has been where is the final going to take place? Back in 1994, the final was in Pasadena, California at the Rose Bowl stadium.

Having it in Pasadena made a lot of sense as that stadium has a great history and is capable of holding large-scale games. Also at the time, there were no football teams in Los Angeles, but the committee still found a way to make it as close as possible. Now we have two years to wait until we get to see what a World Cup Final in New Jersey will entail. The constant talk of how it is close to New York City will always stand true, but it is not New York, it is simply a massive stadium off to the side of the Jersey Turnpike.

To add even more insult to injury, in 2022, Qatar was able to host a whole World Cup in their country with a population of below 3 million. To put that into some perspective, New Jersey is just shy of 10 million people and the quality of MetLife Stadium compared Lusail Stadium is not even worth the time.

Personally, as a native New Yorker, I do not claim Metlife as New York. Sure it is the tri-state area, but we do not want New Jersey. The whole idea of New York/New Jersey just does not sit well with me and should not with anyone. While New York City itself might not have a stadium for this, Qatar was able to build stadiums and prepare for this, so why can’t we?

In terms of why this is a good idea because I can only hate so much, the stadium will be full no matter what. Travel to Metlife is not that hard and parking is extremely easy. From all around New York, going to Penn Station will get you to Metlife in around an hour. I am glad the final is close by so if I have the money to go, I can afford to drive and not need to pay for too much travel.

Back to the bad, the injury history of the stadium is just a start as to why this is a terrible decision. While showing both sides of the pros and cons of this, hopefully, it goes smoothly but the questions that will arise will sound something like this. How will the world react if Mbappe tears an ACL because the quality of Metlife stadium is so poor?

Lastly, the effect the media will have on this World Cup will be like no other. Compared to the 2 most recent World Cups, Russia and Qatar. The USA is a major media outlet for the World. We have our own sports that dominate our industry now we bring the world’s game to the front lines. Even looking into the future, in 2030 the World Cup is going to be held between 6 different countries around the world, and then in 2034 in Saudi Arabia. New York/New Jersey media will surely cover the final at the highest level ever, but what about all of the games leading up to that moment?

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