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Days before the kickoff of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, there was no outward sign that this desolate, trash-strewn parking lot in New Jersey would soon become one of the priciest stretches of asphalt in the tri-state area.
The newly refurbished World of Blue hotel will charge soccer fans $450 to park here on the night of the tournament final, to be held across the highway at MetLife Stadium, which will host eight matches in total over the next five weeks.
Booking a room for the final on July 19 will cost you around $2,300, according to World of Blue’s website, or about seven times what you would pay a month later. But it does come with a discounted parking spot for $383.
This expanse of warehouses and wetlands between New York City and Philadelphia is generally a place you pass through on the way to somewhere else like Tony Soprano in the opening credit’s of The Sopranos or where you stay when you can’t afford a place in Manhattan. But it’s proximity to MetLife had local hoteliers banking on a surge in World Cup bookings, and pricing rooms accordingly.
