Philly gets free Broad Street Line rides home after World Cup matches

While some U.S. host cities are raising public transportation fares for the 2026 World Cup, fans in Philadelphia will enjoy free subway rides home on match days.

Philadelphia Soccer 2026, Philly’s World Cup Host Committee, announced that Airbnb will sponsor free SEPTA Broad Street Line rides after all six World Cup matches played at Lincoln Financial Field this summer.

SEPTA riders will pay the usual $2.90 fare to take the Broad Street Line to NRG Station before the game, with “sports express trains” running every 10 minutes or less. Free rides from NRG will begin at halftime of each match and continue for two hours after the match ends.

“Accessibility has been a central priority for Philadelphia Soccer 2026 since our bid, and we are grateful to Airbnb for sharing our fan-centered vision for FIFA World Cup in Philadelphia,” said Daniel J. Hilferty, co-chair of Philadelphia Soccer 2026 and chairman and CEO of Comcast Spectacor. “We want everyone to feel that they can take part in this once-in-a-generation event.”

The free SEPTA rides home announcement comes on the heels of other host cities announcing fans will have to pay eye-watering fares, such as Boston’s $80 round trip and New Jersey’s $150 round trips to the stadiums — a price hike of more than 700%. Fares for those trips usually run Boston commuters $20 and NJ Transit commuters $12.90.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill insists that commuters not attending games and taxpayers will not get stuck with the cost of high transit fares.

“FIFA is making $11 billion off this World Cup, while charging fans up to $10,000 [for] a single ticket for the final,” said Stephen Sigmund, spokesperson for Sherrill. “They should be paying for rides, but if they don’t, Gov. Sherrill isn’t going to let New Jersey get taken for one.”

FIFA is not footing the bill for transportation expenses in host cities, and according to NJ Transit, it will cost $48 million to move 40,000 people, more than four times the number it carries for a normal stadium event, Sigmund said.

Making Philly’s ride homes free is one more benefit added to the package that is the city’s World Cup experience, said Meg Kane, CEO of Philadelphia Soccer 2026. But not only is it making travel to the stadium cheaper, but it’s also making Philly’s cultural touchstones more accessible.

“When we think about the authentic Philadelphia experience. the Broad Street Line is very essential to the way in which we experience sports and our fandom in Philadelphia,” Kane said. “It is where good-natured ribbing of opposing teams’ fans occurs, but it is also where our excitement and our enthusiasm often manifest so richly.”

While other cities grapple for cash, SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said the transit agency received a $5.5 million grant to cover the cost of overtime for running extra trains to the stadiums.

Getting fans to and from the South Philadelphia sports complex isn’t SEPTA’s main obstacle: It’s planning for the transportation of people to and from the FIFA Fan Festival at Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park. The sprawling festival will take over the fields of East Fairmount, which isn’t accessible by subway or elevated train, but rather by taking a bus, car, cycling, or walking. There will be no parking available at FIFA Fan Festival either.

The transit agency is adding additional buses on seven routes that serve the area: 7, 32, 38, 43, 48, 49, and G1 to address these concerns.

“We estimate we will be able to add 1,400 additional passenger seats per hour, which is more than could be provided by shuttle service,” Busch said. Riders also will be able to access the festival from a variety of points via connecting services to those routes, he said.

Staff writers Thomas Fitzgerald and Aliya Schneider contributed to this article.