In Hoboken, Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) signed a proclamation offering New Jersey municipalities the option to adjust alcohol hours-of-sale ordinances during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is hosted at MetLife Stadium and begins next month.
By Dan Israel/Hudson County View
Sherrill inked the document at “Hoboken’s premiere soccer destination,” Mulligan’s Pub at 159 1st Street.
The move follows new guidance from the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) enabling municipalities to keep bars open later during the World Cup.
“This is the biggest sporting event in the world: Three billion people are going to tune in to our World Cup final here in New Jersey,” Sherrill said at today’s press conference inside the bar.
As visitors from around the world flock to the region and New Jersey residents prepare for the 39-day tournament, the governor is encouraging municipalities to take advantage of the economic opportunities presented by the World Cup.
“It’s not just about the game itself, because we know millions are coming to the United States to share in the excitement, and we want to make sure people across New Jersey both have an excellent and exciting experience,” she added.
“That’s why we have 34 fan zones and events across the state like the one you had here yesterday. And we’ll continue to sport that kind of excitement, but also coming up with other ideas on how businesses can benefit.”
Specifically, this allows municipalities to expand the hours of operations for bars – whether it be opening earlier or later – so soccer fans can watch the World Cup matches when they happen regardless of the time of day.
“Some of these games will be played at the same time,” Sherrill explained.
“So sometimes, we’ll want to be open later so that people can come watch the games they missed, or even rewatch special moments from it, but just really create that sense of camaraderie that’s so important and at the same time, drive investment into our small businesses.”
According to Sherrill, Mulligan’s is an example of a bar that will take advantage of being permitted to have expanded hours of operation, opening an hour before every match.
After her brief remarks, Sherrill signed the proclamation and then took on-topic questions from reporters.
Responding to concerns that some establishment hours might be extending too late, Sherrill said this just allows municipalities to expedite the process to permit bars to remain open late.
“It is a town-by-town decision. This is in no way forcing any municipalities to change those rules. But what it’s doing in towns, and I think they’ve been very responsive and excited about it, is allowing businesses to really get some good economic impact from the World Cup.”
Sherrill also said that this tool will be key to municipalities seeking to help small businesses across New Jersey, who have taken a lot of hits lately from the President Donald Trump (R) Administration.
As a result, New Jersey is trying to conversely create an environment where businesses can flourish.
“Having all of these tourists come in to New Jersey for this event right now can really lift businesses up. We’ve seen bars especially hit hard … A bar in my town was closing, and they said part of it was the cost of everything going up,” Sherrill noted.
Responding to questions about keeping fans in New Jersey as opposed to New York City, especially in the wake of the cancelled fan festival at Liberty State Park, Sherrill said there will be a number of smaller-yet-still-large events at Sports Illustrated Stadium in addition to 34 events across the Garden State.
According to Sherrill, New Jersey was chosen in part because the state’s ability to host an event that “very few places could actually do,” also taking half-serious shots at New York.
“Judging from their social media, they seem to be turning green with envy, but we’re okay with that because we’re excited,” Sherrill said.
On NJ Transit tickets, the governor announced they sold about 5,000 tickets in the first day at a “really, really fast” pace- something Sherrill highlighted alongside lowering ticket prices to under $100 using corporate sponsorship.
However, she said FIFA has been more of a bane then a boon.
“As you know, I still think FIFA should throw in, and their response has been to raise ticket prices to about $33,000,” Sherrill said.
“So we aren’t seeing a lot of support there, but we’ll continue to push because I want to make sure that people can really experience a fantastic World Cup and that New Jerseyans don’t pay for it.”
Addressing New York’s announcement that bus trips to MetLife will only cost $20 – raising concerns by some of a potential gap in New Jersey’s profit as less tourists may take NJ Transit – Sherrill said she felt they are prepared.
“It’s been great to see everybody pushing to try to add extra capacity in the system. “It’s really going to be great to make sure that we are getting everybody moved as safely as possible,” Sherrill said.
“That’s why we certainly have those train tickets, which is, I think, probably that closed-loop system, the fastest way to get people in and out of the stadium. You’re going to get right in and right out. The train line is going to be dedicated to the World Cup passengers, but having extra options, I think it’s just going to add a better experience for everyone.”
In terms of mitigating tourists who are still thinking of walking from to the matches held at MetLife, temporarily renamed New York New Jersey Stadium, Sherrill told HCV that New Jersey has seen success in helping tourists visualize what the stadium looks like.
“It is not appropriate for walking in any way,” Sherrill stated.
“We all know what it looks like, but you can imagine a world where you’re coming from somewhere else and don’t quite understand that this is an area in one of the most densely populated places in the entire United States of America on a major highway.”
According to Mayor Emily Jabbour, this will allow Hoboken to permit bars in the Mile Square City to expand their hours of operation earlier and/or later with City Council and ABC Board approval.
“We’re going to work on how this can positively impact our block party scheduling,” Jabbour said.
“We are also conscious of quality of life concerns from residents. We know that there’s a balance in a community like Hoboken. So we’re going to see how this can be helpful, but make sure that we’re also still keeping an eye out for our neighbors.”
On the topic of possibly implementing “Soccer Streets” in front of schools, as implemented by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Jabbour said that there will be plenty of activations locally.
“This is admittedly one of the bigger activation that we’re going to have in generations,” expressed Hudson County Executive Craig Guy, touting upcoming events this year in Bayonne and Secaucus’s Laurel Park to be announced before week’s end.
“We had the World Cup a number of years ago, and to have activations in both Hoboken and Secaucus, and Jersey City, it just adds to the small business component of what government is all about- bringing businesses in to support our small businesses. It’s great, I look to have few Guinness during the World Cup … The governor makes a lot of great choices, and being that she’s in Hoboken right now is probably one of her better choices today.”
Further, Jersey City announced their four free World Cup celebrations earlier today, as HCV first reported.
LOL, What could possibly go wrong?