NEW YORK — The New York and New Jersey World Cup host committee has announced the cancellation of its fan festival, which was set to take place at Liberty State Park in Jersey City.
The decision to cancel the festival, originally planned to run for several weeks approximately 15 miles (24 kilometers) from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, where the tournament final will occur on July 19, was made public recently.
The FanFest, which was first revealed in February 2025 by Tammy Murphy, then-chair of the New York/New Jersey host committee and wife of former New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, was intended to be open during all 104 matches of the tournament starting June 11.
In a statement released on Friday, the committee indicated that an “expanded network of fan zones and community celebrations across 21 counties in New Jersey will now serve as a cornerstone of the region’s official fan engagement program.”
Mikie Sherrill, who succeeded Murphy as governor, recently announced a $5 million initiative aimed at funding community-related World Cup activities.
Tickets for the FanFest were made available for purchase in December.
Plans for a FanFest in New York City’s Corona Park in Queens have also been abandoned. Instead, a festival is now set for the U.S. Tennis Association’s Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens from June 17-28, and a fan village will take place at Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center from July 4-19.
Since 2006, fan fests with large video screens have been a staple of World Cup events.
This year, FIFA is responsible for managing the World Cup logistics, differing from past tournaments that operated with local organizing committees. The host committees’ role is limited to handling sponsorship agreements in areas not designated by FIFA.