You could win tickets to the World Cup final by supporting New Jersey’s small-business community

Soccer fans: There’s now a way to support New Jersey’s small-business community and possibly win tickets to the FIFA World Cup final for doing so.

The host committee for the games coming to the New York/New Jersey region announced an initiative called the Welcome World Rewards Program. Small businesses along the corridor can sign up to be part of the program through an application at nynjfwc26.com, beginning Tuesday and running through mid-June.

From there, fans can sign up for a digital wallet that collects points as they interact with participating businesses. These points, accrued through digital check-ins, are then redeemable for prizes designated by the host committee, including tickets to World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium, most notably the tournament’s final on July 19.

“The Welcome World Rewards Program creates a fun, interactive way for local fans and the millions of visitors coming to our region to engage with local businesses and experience everything New York and New Jersey have to offer,” said Alex Lasry, CEO of the New York-New Jersey host committee.

The initiative is designed to encourage fans coming to the region to interact with the small-business community, and is the latest push from host committees to allow businesses to benefit from the hundreds of thousands of people expected to come through the region during the monthlong tournament.

Earlier this month, Philadelphia Soccer 2026 announced that it would support a vendor village in conjunction with its fan festival, allowing local businesses to operate in and around the festival grounds.

FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, has stringent rules and regulations about who can operate under its umbrella. An official with the New York-New Jersey host committee confirmed that an approval from FIFA did come for the Welcome World Rewards Program.

“I think this is just another way of host committees trying to underscore our efforts and make sure that the $3.3 billion in economic impact isn’t just going to FIFA,” a source familiar with host committee proceedings told The Inquirer. “It’s the responsibility of [these host committee] teams to ensure that this World Cup means something to people who live here and work here, and that it’s not just a blip.”

Applications for the New York-New Jersey small-business program are open to businesses across the Garden State, so soccer fans from the Philadelphia region who shop at participating businesses in South Jersey can earn points to their digital wallets. Registration for a digital wallet is also available on nynjfwc26.com.

“New Jersey’s  small  businesses  are the backbone of our economy,” New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in a statement. Sherrill opted to divert funding that would have gone to New Jersey’s original plan of hosting of a FIFA Fan Festival at Liberty State Park in Jersey City to other initiatives, The Athletic reported in late February.

It was said at the time that Sherrill was looking to take $5 million in funding and allocate it to other initiatives, like smaller World Cup fan zones throughout New Jersey and, presumably, the kick-start of programs like this one.

“This innovative platform will help small businesses benefit from increased economic activity,” Sherrill said, “while giving fans an authentic taste of everything that New Jersey and the region have to offer.”