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- The NY-NJ World Cup host committee was late in filing legally required annual renewal documents with New Jersey’s Attorney General.
- This is the second time the committee has missed filing deadlines, having previously failed to register as a nonprofit for over three years.
- Experts emphasize that these documents are crucial for public transparency regarding the use of taxpayer funds for mega-events.
The New York-New Jersey World Cup host committee was — again — behind on filing legally required documents due to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, NorthJersey.com has learned.
A letter of delinquency was sent Aug. 4 from the attorney general’s office to the host committee — the 501(c)(6) nonprofit responsible for organizing, fundraising and executing the World Cup tournament games at MetLife Stadium in North Jersey this June and July.
The letter told the group it had not yet filed its annual renewal documents for 2025, which were due July 1. The Aug. 4 notice was sent a day after NorthJersey.com asked whether the document was filed.
Registration renewal documents are due six months after the end of the nonprofit's fiscal year — which is Dec. 31 for the host committee — and there is a 30-day grace period to get the legally required documents filed, the attorney general’s office said.
Story continues below photo gallery
By Aug. 5, the host committee submitted a request for an 180-day extension, which was immediately granted by the attorney general’s office even though that request is required before the filing deadline.
The latest missed deadline came just weeks after NorthJersey.com revealed the host committee failed for more than three years to register its nonprofit with the state — as is legally required in order to operate and solicit funds — and only did so after NorthJersey.com filed a public information request seeking its registration documents.
The few documents the host committee eventually filed more than three years late contained errors and were missing some information, and some legally required documents weren't filed at all.
Natalie Hamilton, a spokeswoman for the host committee, said the paperwork information is based on its 2025 tax filings due in November, which is when the group will file its renewal statement with the attorney general’s office charities division.
“As of today, we don’t have any outstanding near-term requests from the Charities Registration Section,” Hamilton said.
‘Transparency is everything’
The mandated documents outline basic information about the nonprofit's highest salaried employees, board members, spending, expenses and who they contracted with to solicit donations.
While they may seem byzantine and boring, these documents offer some of the only publicly accessible details about how this organization has spent millions of taxpayer dollars.
Given the host committee's lack of compliance over multiple years, NorthJersey.com asked the attorney general’s office why they granted the nonprofit an extension to file.
Lisa Coryell, a spokeswoman in the attorney general’s office, did not directly answer the question, but said, “The Division's Charities Registration Section is committed to ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations and working with charitable organizations to achieve that goal.â€
Bill Hurlock, a partner at the Pine Brook-based law firm Frier Levitt — whose experience includes litigating government fraud cases — said nonprofits like the host committee should only be able to maintain their tax-exempt status if they file documents in a timely manner.
“That's the whole reason to have these reporting requirements to begin with is to give the public a level of confidence that the entity should have a tax-exempt status,†Hurlock said. “Transparency is everything — you want the public to know what's going on as soon as possible.â€
Tracking taxpayer dollars is government job
Transparency is also critical to understanding whether investing taxpayer dollars in these mega events is worth it.
A cost-benefit analysis of what was spent and how much came back in tax dollars is especially important for New Jersey, which is often in the unique position of spending more taxpayer dollars than its co-host partner New York because the stadium is in East Rutherford. But New York City ends up reaping the lion's share of tax revenue because it is the main attraction for tourist dollars spent on hotels, shopping and eating.
Victor Matheson, a professor of economics and accounting at the College of the Holy Cross, said it is incumbent on the New Jersey and New York governors and “whoever has handed over a check†to the host committee to hold these organizations accountable for how the money was spent.
“It obviously shouldn't fall solely on the muckrakers to do what is literally a government job, which is to oversee the funds that they disburse,†Matheson said, using an old nickname for reporters.
Questions and concerns about how the host committee used its money have swirled for months.
In addition to hefty salaries and fees for people and companies associated with the former New Jersey governor, the host committee was critiqued over multiple issues, such as:
- Its plans to host a fan festival at Liberty State Park, despite significant logistical challenges, which was ultimately shut down less than five months before the tournament started;
- Its decision to pay the full cost of 1,000 tickets and give them to New York City, where they were distributed for $50, while giving none to co-host partner residents in New Jersey. Several sponsors and the host committee eventually donated 1,000 of their hospitality tickets to New Jersey, which distributed them for free to first responders, National Guard members and youth soccer players.
- How PKF O'Connor Davies, one of the largest accounting firms in the country, was paid a $218,000 fee in 2024 by the host committee to be its bookkeeper but failed to file routine nonprofit registration documents to the attorney general’s office.
Why does it matter? The next mega event looms
While Matheson wasn't too concerned about when the host committee filed its documents, he said an “after-the-fact accounting†is essential to make informed decisions about hosting future events.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill told NorthJersey.com in May that her administration, through the state Economic Development Authority, has begun a postmortem analysis to understand the economic impact of hosting the tournament.
“We already know hotel occupancy was up during the tournament, and that more than 300,000 fans attended the governor's community grant events, and we are working with the Economic Development Authority on the larger economic impact,” said Maggie Garbarino, a Sherrill spokeswoman.
Garbarino did not address a question about whether the governor will require a similar report and information from the host committee.
Hamilton, the host committee spokeswoman, told NorthJersey.com in June for a separate article that the committee would “announce our fundraising totals closer to the end of the tournament after our fundraising drive has concluded.”
But if the governor's office and the host committee wait too long, people lose interest and those reports “get filed like the Ark of the Covenant in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark' in some giant warehouse never to be seen again,†Matheson said.
A full-accounting report helps to answer the question of “was the World Cup worth it†because it would analyze “not just what it brought, but what it cost,†Matheson said.
“Without good transparency from the local host committee about what it really did cost in terms of state, local and federal dollars, you're never going to be able to answer that question,†he said. “It's tempting to say, ‘Well what does it matter?' What it matters for is the next Super Bowl, the next NCAA college football championship, the next World Cup, the next Women's World Cup — because all of those things are eventually coming New York and New Jersey's way.â€
Indeed, that next mega event could be here soon.
The Sherrill administration signed an agreement in March to show the state is exploring a bid to host the 2031 Women's World Cup, according to the document exclusively obtained by NorthJersey.com.
“While we have not bid on hosting on the Women's World Cup, as we look to future opportunities to host major global events, the governor is committed to ensuring New Jersey taxpayers receive the best possible deal,” Garbarino said.
