Plans shelved for official World Cup Fan Fest in NJ’s Liberty State Park

Plans for the official World Cup Fan Fest at New Jersey’s Liberty State Park have been shelved in favor of a network of smaller events across New Jersey.

The New York New Jersey FIFA World Cup Host Committee, along with then-Gov. Phil Murphy, unveiled plans for the massive Fan Fest last June, which aimed to host events for all 104 games at the upcoming World Cup across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The fan park, which would have been open for all 39 days of the tournament from June 11 until the final on July 19, was slated to have a capacity of 45,000 fans. Early bird tickets had also been sold for events at the park, starting at $10.

But plans for the official Fan Fest have now been shelved in favor of smaller events in communities across New Jersey, including watch parties and street fairs, while anyone who had purchased tickets to the Liberty State Park fan fest will be refunded, according to reports.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill has announced a $5 million initiative to bring the World Cup to “every corner of New Jersey,” with the state focusing on events that have a high impact on local communities and an impact on small businesses in the state.

“From fan zones to neighborhood watch parties to street fairs, we are investing in the communities and small businesses that make New Jersey extraordinary,” Sherrill said in a statement issued Thursday. “The World Cup is coming to our state — and we are going to make sure it belongs to New Jerseyans first.”

The initiative will support two distinct categories of World Cup programming across the state, including major fan zones located across New Jersey and targeted support for small and mid-sized community watch parties, festivals and street fairs.

The NY/NJ Host Committee noted that fan festivals will still go ahead at Rockefeller Center and the National Tennis Center in Queens, adding that the committee will advance its “region-wide fan engagement program.”

A spokesperson for the host committee said the network of smaller fan activations will include bring “community celebrations” to 21 counties in New Jersey.

“The expanded network of Fan Zones and community celebrations across 21 counties in New Jersey will serve as a cornerstone of the region’s official fan engagement program,” a host committee spokesperson said in a statement.

“These experiences will bring the excitement of the World Cup directly into communities, expanding access, participation and economic impact statewide. We look forward to sharing additional details as plans continue to advance with our state and local partners.”

The Liberty State Park Fan Fest was launched last June with a major launch event, promising dozens of large-screen televisions and live entertainment. The host committee, which had teamed up with Live Naiton to run events at the fan fest, anticipated that the site would draw visitors from both New York and New Jersey.

Speaking after the event, Murphy forecasted that the fan fast would be an “extraordinary” experience for fans on days when MetLife Stadium was not hosting World Cup games.

“Ninety-six matches will not be at MetLife Stadium. And where are people going to go to watch them? A lot of them are going to come right here,” Murphy said last June.