FTA, the quote from the governor:
“Our administration inherited an agreement where Fifa is providing $0 for transportation to the World Cup. Zero. That leaves New Jersey Transit with a $48m to safely get 40,000 fans to and from every game. At the same time, Fifa is making $11bn off of this World Cup, and charging fans up to $10,000 for a single ticket for the final. I won’t stick New Jersey commuters for that tab for years to come, that’s not fair. So here’s the bottom line: Fifa should pay for the rides, but if they don’t I’m not going to let New Jersey commuters get taken for one.”
Just get the legislature to nullify the agreement. Or just void it as governor, or something like that.
That would probably result in the whole agreement being ignored, and would likely result in court cases where Fifa wins a settlement (paid for by tax dollars) if the state doesn’t uphold a contract. Also reputational damage to the state that contracts aren’t honored. IMO this is the only option that doesn’t result in the tax payers to foot the bill, so i commend her on pushing back on Fifa over this.
next time states should rethink thier plans about hosting fifa or the olympics if they are forced to pay.
Tbh, given that it was clearly a very exploitative agreement done by an extremely corporatist and conservative predecessor… my position is “fuck ‘em”. Companies and organizations seeking to make deals like that should be wary of rational governments.
Not to mention, this is exactly what the neofascists are doing, only in reverse, and turnabout is not only fair play, but existentially necessary as well.
They’re fucking up the commuter trains to accommodate the world cup, it’s a fucking shit show.
Fuck FIFA, corrupt, greedy bastards taking a working class sport and making it into this monstrosity.
and fifa is likely to be sportswashed by saudias already.
but the hilarious part is Europe is out of plane juice because the FIFA Peace Prize winner started a war.
With the World Cup happening in America, then midterms, the next 7 months are going to be possibly the most stressful period in my lifetime.
I could give a fuck about fifa, but anyone counting on the us to host an international event is fucking drunk.
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.
Free for the fans is fine and encouragable. Free for FIFA fuck no
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.
Do you New York City is in New Jersey? Those expensive hotel night taxes are going to a different state.
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.
Sounds like New Jersey has (had) a crappy negotiator.
