World Cup at MetLife Stadium has no general parking, but plenty of food, drink, and fun at fan experience area
Fans flock to the FIFA World Cup Fan Zone at Metlife Stadium on Monday. Credit: Mario Gonzalez
You won’t see any tailgating before World Cup games at MetLife Stadium, but FIFA has provided fans another way to prepare accordingly.
The decision to have no general parking on MetLife property for the World Cup was met with backlash, as was the alternative of $225 parking at the adjacent American Dream mall. But the space, specifically Lots E and F, is being used by FIFA as part of its official fan experience area, which opens three hours before each game and closes two hours after.
Once fans get inside the gates — which are located in the parking lots, much farther from the typical NFL checkpoints — they can join the fun. More than 10 activations are set up in Lots E and F, the area FIFA is describing as the south corner of the stadium inside gates 1 and 2, where fans can purchase drinks, receive free giveaways and participate in several activities.
Every station seemed to have a long line before Monday night’s game between Norway and Senegal, and the on-and-off rain and the flood watch had no impact on fans’ excitement.
“I'm glad we came here, and we tried a few things,” said Shraddha Mehta, 31, of Stamford, Connecticut. “We're going to try a bunch of more things, but yeah it’s fun. I definitely recommend. That's why we came early.”
None of the setups in the fan experience visually pop more than the Coca-Cola Fan Zone in the middle of Lot E, where fans can get their photos taken, receive face paint and pick up flags.
“We were just checking around what's available,” Mehta said. “We saw the line for the Coca-Cola shop, and then we were like, let's just check it out. I didn't even know it was face paint. I’m neutral. I’m here for the experience, so we got both the Senegal and the Norwegian flags painted. It was fun.”
Mehta attended the game with Avirat Gaikwad, 31, also of Stamford, and they both had Norway and Senegal flags painted on their cheeks.
“We saw a lot of Norway supporters around, but not a lot of people supporting Senegal,” Gaikwad said. “So we thought we’d represent.”
Food and drinks also were available for purchase in the Lot E section of the fan experience.
The Casamigos Margarita Bar had $20 margaritas. The Doritos Loaded stand had six different variations of $18 loaded Doritos nachos. And the Lay’s Table had six different flavors of their chips — buffalo lemon pepper and chicken bacon ranch for the U.S., British-style beef sausage for England, Argentinian-style sausage for Argentina, kimchi for South Korea and Moroccan-inspired chili mix for Morocco — for $9.
A DJ was blasting music in Lot E, which also featured a Dove-sponsored station where fans could get a Panini trading card with their picture on it, a VISA-sponsored stand where fans could take pictures and kick a ball for a tote bag, and a Hisense-sponsored station where they could play free games for free prizes.
FOX has a studio setup in the lot as well, one that could eventually resemble an environment similar to ESPN’s College GameDay (though no one was on the set two hours before Monday’s kickoff).
Plenty more was in Lot F. For drinks, fans could visit the Michelob Ultra bar or La Barra Buchanita, where fans could buy $20 Buchanitas — containing 1 1/2 ounces of Buchanan’s Deluxe Scotch Whisky, four ounces of pineapple juice and a pineapple garnish.
At the DoorDash area, fans who have DashPass could get a disposable camera and other goodies. At the Bank of America activation, fans could pick up free “fan bands,” basically charm bracelets. Fans also could strike the Jiangzhou drum of China at the Mengniu setup, or go to The Home Depot area and take photos in front of a floral replica of the World Cup trophy.
Of course, there was a merchandise store, too.
As Gaikwad mentioned, thousands of Norwegians made the trip to support their country, which is in the World Cup for the first time since 1998. The environment was unlike anything they had seen before.
Gabriel Espe, 21, of Norway, had been to a Jets-Dolphins game at MetLife years ago, noting the differences in the tailgating he saw then. He partook in the fan experience ahead of his first World Cup game.
“It's very good,” he said. “The Norwegian fans are incredible. They're staying together, singing songs. It's amazing.”
Brothers Matias Reinsnos, 31, and Haavard Reinsnos, 27, of Stavanger, Norway, also were at the fan experience. Safe to say, they were impressed.
“It's massive,” Matias said. “Norwegian people, we are used to like 5,000-to-10,000 people, and now it’s like 80,000? It’s massive. Massive.”
Haavard said: “It’s the most impressive thing I’ve seen.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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