New Jersey’s governor, Mikie Sherrill, has hit out at Fifa after reports her state’s transport system will charge $100 for a return ticket to World Cup matches
Normally, I’d actually side against NJ on this one. World Cup host cities generally provide public transit for free during matches. It’s expected and helps normal people who spent a lot of money on travel and hotel and food and tickets to get to the match. Also, public transportation to the Meadowlands was poorly designed from the get go, and NJ should be punished for allowing it to be as bad as it is with car parking being the primary means of getting to the stadium.
But FIFA is not allowing NJ to use the parking lots at or near the stadium as actual parking lots. And most fans going to these matches are not living in or will not be getting hotels in NJ. NJ will bear all the cost burden but with none of the tourist income. I also wonder how much NJ was included in the NYC bid to host. Maybe a lot but from a different governor, I don’t know.
Big sporting event as line the Olympics and the World Cup are advertised as a boon to the hosts, for economic benefits through increased tourism. But most host cities realize that’s a lie, that they lose money in the end.
That’s the point, right? Businesses wanna make money by taking it from others. Obviously. Don’t let yourself get played.
Trust me, I understand that just as well as you do. I’ve been following Olympics hosting scandals since the 1990s and WC hosting issues since 2006. Like I said, I am siding with NJ on this one. If the stadium were in NYC where people could take the subways, I wouldn’t. NYC is getting all the tourist revenue while NJ is getting all the transport and security burden. NYC is charging $90/night in taxes on just hotels. All the food and alcohol being purchased will also add to the money that city makes. They could subsidize some subway tickets. But in this case, you can’t take a subway to Met Life… you can’t even take a direct train to Met Life. You also can’t drive to it during the WC.
Other host cities, probably not getting any benefit. LA might do OK, since we aren’t doing jack shit extra for the WC except hosting watch parties that are not free.
I’m not getting played. I don’t support FIFA and am boycotting this WC. I also boycotted Russia and Qatar. I could have afforded to go to either of those games but chose to not even watch them. I was crazy excited for this WC, but now I’m not even going to watch them on TV. Fuck this whole thing and fuck FIFA. But I will always support a city providing public transport to people spending thousands in just taxes to visit.
Why would host cities be expected to give a freebie to fans for a for profit event? Do they do it for Taylor Swift concerts? For Superbowl attendees? If tourists or the event organizers aren’t paying for their rides, the residents are. Cities should stop doing what’s expected by for-profit companies and start doing what’s good for their people.
Those events can be good for the people if the leaders do it right. One of the reasons Romney was so popular is because he headed the committee that made SLC one of the few cities that actually profited from hosting the Olympics.
Maybe because the host cities are using tourist dollars to provide tourist services for tourists doing tourist things. It’s a $4/match benefit in exchange for taxes from a $200/night hotel (in a non-US country), 10% from whatever their food and alcohol bill is for the week, taxes from flights into/out of the city, taxes on the match tickets, etc.
Taxes on a hotel stay in the US are like $15/night in a cheap city. NYC hotels are $30/night for state tax plus $20/night for city tax on a normal day, not during WC matches. And you are upset that some cities use that to cover $4? With hotels jacking up prices for the weeks of WC matches, and tickets costing $500 (which have sales tax as a percentage), the state is getting a ton of revenue. The Hilton in Times Square for 2 nights during the Ecuador Germany game is $541/night BEFORE an additional $90/night in taxes. $90/night in taxes and you are upset about giving a person a free subway ride to a game? I get that the matches in NJ aren’t just a subway ride away, which is why I’m siding with NJ on this case; but in most host cities in previous WCs, the matches are at stadiums with easy subway access.
Your argument would have merit if these were simply amenities provided to all tourists, because they all pay the same fees. They don’t give Swifties free transportation. Or a real “regular guy” traveling to the city to actually visit the city. If FIFA wants a special perk for their attendees they should use some of their profits to purchase it.
Maybe if you had read my original post to understand the context of this post you would have seen where I wrote, “And most fans going to these matches are not living in or will not be getting hotels in NJ. NJ will bear all the cost burden but with none of the tourist income. I also wonder how much NJ was included in the NYC bid to host.” I wasn’t making a point about NYC specifically in this second post. I was talking about host cities in general. NYC is ALSO not providing free subway rides for match goers, even though they are reaping most of the benefits.
But go ahead and like you are smarter than everyone else.
Normally, I’d actually side against NJ on this one. World Cup host cities generally provide public transit for free during matches. It’s expected and helps normal people who spent a lot of money on travel and hotel and food and tickets to get to the match. Also, public transportation to the Meadowlands was poorly designed from the get go, and NJ should be punished for allowing it to be as bad as it is with car parking being the primary means of getting to the stadium.
But FIFA is not allowing NJ to use the parking lots at or near the stadium as actual parking lots. And most fans going to these matches are not living in or will not be getting hotels in NJ. NJ will bear all the cost burden but with none of the tourist income. I also wonder how much NJ was included in the NYC bid to host. Maybe a lot but from a different governor, I don’t know.
Big sporting event as line the Olympics and the World Cup are advertised as a boon to the hosts, for economic benefits through increased tourism. But most host cities realize that’s a lie, that they lose money in the end.
That’s the point, right? Businesses wanna make money by taking it from others. Obviously. Don’t let yourself get played.
Trust me, I understand that just as well as you do. I’ve been following Olympics hosting scandals since the 1990s and WC hosting issues since 2006. Like I said, I am siding with NJ on this one. If the stadium were in NYC where people could take the subways, I wouldn’t. NYC is getting all the tourist revenue while NJ is getting all the transport and security burden. NYC is charging $90/night in taxes on just hotels. All the food and alcohol being purchased will also add to the money that city makes. They could subsidize some subway tickets. But in this case, you can’t take a subway to Met Life… you can’t even take a direct train to Met Life. You also can’t drive to it during the WC.
Other host cities, probably not getting any benefit. LA might do OK, since we aren’t doing jack shit extra for the WC except hosting watch parties that are not free.
I’m not getting played. I don’t support FIFA and am boycotting this WC. I also boycotted Russia and Qatar. I could have afforded to go to either of those games but chose to not even watch them. I was crazy excited for this WC, but now I’m not even going to watch them on TV. Fuck this whole thing and fuck FIFA. But I will always support a city providing public transport to people spending thousands in just taxes to visit.
Why would host cities be expected to give a freebie to fans for a for profit event? Do they do it for Taylor Swift concerts? For Superbowl attendees? If tourists or the event organizers aren’t paying for their rides, the residents are. Cities should stop doing what’s expected by for-profit companies and start doing what’s good for their people.
Those events can be good for the people if the leaders do it right. One of the reasons Romney was so popular is because he headed the committee that made SLC one of the few cities that actually profited from hosting the Olympics.
Maybe because the host cities are using tourist dollars to provide tourist services for tourists doing tourist things. It’s a $4/match benefit in exchange for taxes from a $200/night hotel (in a non-US country), 10% from whatever their food and alcohol bill is for the week, taxes from flights into/out of the city, taxes on the match tickets, etc.
Taxes on a hotel stay in the US are like $15/night in a cheap city. NYC hotels are $30/night for state tax plus $20/night for city tax on a normal day, not during WC matches. And you are upset that some cities use that to cover $4? With hotels jacking up prices for the weeks of WC matches, and tickets costing $500 (which have sales tax as a percentage), the state is getting a ton of revenue. The Hilton in Times Square for 2 nights during the Ecuador Germany game is $541/night BEFORE an additional $90/night in taxes. $90/night in taxes and you are upset about giving a person a free subway ride to a game? I get that the matches in NJ aren’t just a subway ride away, which is why I’m siding with NJ on this case; but in most host cities in previous WCs, the matches are at stadiums with easy subway access.
Your argument would have merit if these were simply amenities provided to all tourists, because they all pay the same fees. They don’t give Swifties free transportation. Or a real “regular guy” traveling to the city to actually visit the city. If FIFA wants a special perk for their attendees they should use some of their profits to purchase it.
Do you New York City is in New Jersey? Those expensive hotel night taxes are going to a different state.
Maybe if you had read my original post to understand the context of this post you would have seen where I wrote, “And most fans going to these matches are not living in or will not be getting hotels in NJ. NJ will bear all the cost burden but with none of the tourist income. I also wonder how much NJ was included in the NYC bid to host.” I wasn’t making a point about NYC specifically in this second post. I was talking about host cities in general. NYC is ALSO not providing free subway rides for match goers, even though they are reaping most of the benefits.
But go ahead and like you are smarter than everyone else.
Free for the fans is fine and encouragable. Free for FIFA fuck no