The Interview: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy
The soccer-loving Gov on the pursuit to stage the World Cup 2026 final at MetLife, his thoughts on the NWSL and the Gotham FC team he owns, and more
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is one of the most soccer-minded public officials in the country, someone who fell in love with the sport decades ago, raised four soccer-playing children and became a Hertha Berlin fan when he was the U.S. ambassador to Germany. He and his wife, Tammy, are the majority owners of Gotham FC in the NWSL. We spoke at length about that and about New Jersey/New York’s hopes of hosting the World Cup final in 2026.
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Grant Wahl:
Our guest now is New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who's a soccer guy. He's a part owner of Gotham FC in the NWSL, and New Jersey's MetLife Stadium was just named as a host city for World Cup 2026. Governor Murphy, congratulations on that, and thanks for coming on the show.
Governor Phil Murphy:
Hey, thanks for having me, Grant, and, yeah, it's a big deal to get those games at MetLife, and we're thrilled to get them, and we are working really hard to make sure we have a really good package of games. So it's not just the games, but it's which ones do you get, and we would love to get the last game. So we're laser focused on that as a next step.
Grant Wahl:
Well, let's talk about that then. How does that work in terms of trying to get the final? Who do you think your competition is? And what do you think is the timeline for when that might be decided?
“I've heard [that Jerry Jones is pushing FIFA for Dallas to host the 2026 World Cup final], that he is putting a lot of energy and resources into it, and we know him and his family, they know how to do sports for sure. And they're good folks. Again, I think at the end of the day, not in any way to be critical of Dallas, because I think they've done an outstanding job with what they've got, I just think you want to be in a market that exudes to the world that it is the biggest, the deepest, and we think we have that.” — New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy
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Governor Phil Murphy:
Yeah, I'll start with the last. Obviously, I don't want to speak for FIFA. They are the ones that put the rules of the road and the timing together, but it will be next year at some point. That's the signals that we're getting. That's number one.
Number two. How does the process look? A little bit still to be determined. FIFA's been terrific, I have to say, to deal with, and I'll give you an example of how focused they are. Immediately after they awarded the stadia, first of all, President Infantino reached out and congratulated me, which was a nice gesture on his part. And he and his colleagues have been, especially Victor Montagliani, who is the CONCACAF chief, have been really terrific to deal with. They immediately had a two-day seminar in New York City. So they picked the stadia at the end of the week and they had representatives from all locations into New York for a two-day seminar. And it'll be a multi-month process.
Again, I don't have a lot of insight as to what exactly it looks like, but they'll want to put the big games in places that they know are reliable, that have the right infrastructure, where the fan experience is a superior one, that whole combination. Obviously the stadium specifics matter and, Grant, lastly, I'm not sure who the competition is, but I assume it's the big-market towns.
We take nothing for granted. We think we've got everything they need for the final, but that doesn't mean that we're not going to work our tails off to earn it. But I would think it's something like a New York-L.A. dynamic, would be my guess. The '94 final was in Pasadena in the Rose Bowl, but we think we've got everything it takes to get the 2026 final right here.
Grant Wahl:
How big a factor do you think time zones and European-friendly time zones for the final might be in your favor for the final? In the sense of, you're right, there's been a men's World Cup final in L.A. There's been two Women's World Cup finals in L.A. New York-New Jersey area hasn't had one, but is that a potentially big factor, the time zone situation?
Governor Phil Murphy:
I’ve got to believe it is a factor. Again, I don't want to speak for FIFA, but having lived in Europe most recently as the U.S. ambassador in Germany, where, by the way, we played a lot of soccer and went to a lot of soccer. I just have to believe that's got to be on the list of factors. It has to be. We're used to waking up and watching a Prem game at 7:30 on a Saturday morning. You know how that works.
You could see, I don't know what time you'd pick. Probably you'd try to pick something that's at least somewhat Asia friendly, but maybe you’d see a noon final, which plays 6 PM in Germany, 9 AM on the West Coast, midnight plus or minus in Asia. I think if you look at other alternatives, other geographies, other time zones, I think they are less optimal, I'll put it that way. So again, I don't know how big a factor, but I have to believe it's a factor.
Grant Wahl:
And one thing in my reporting on this, I've heard that Jerry Jones is making a big pitch to FIFA to get the final in Dallas. Have you heard that? What do you think about Jerry pushing for that?
Governor Phil Murphy:
Yeah, I've heard the same, that he is putting a lot of energy and resources into it, and we know him and his family, they know how to do sports for sure. And they're good folks. Again, I think at the end of the day, not in any way to be critical of Dallas, because I think they've done an outstanding job with what they've got, I just think you want to be in a market that exudes to the world that it is the biggest, the deepest, and we think we have that.
And by the way, importantly for your listeners, it is very important to note that we have a joint bid with New York City. So Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, was standing right beside me when we celebrated that New York City-New Jersey was picked. And we have the stadium, we have the passion, we have the actual infrastructure, but, boy, New York is New York. And we need them as our partner at every step of the way, because it is the world city in the United States, and they've been terrific partners on this.
Grant Wahl:
This bid process was a really long one because the World Cup got awarded in 2018. So four years have passed. Some big cities like Chicago chose not to be part of it. I reported a couple days ago that Los Angeles and Miami were up in the air until the very last day negotiating with FIFA before they ended up getting included. From your perspective, what were the most challenging parts of the process for your bid?
Governor Phil Murphy:
Yeah, and I think this is typical, Grant, of the way this process usually unfolds around a World Cup. I was involved in the bid that just missed when Qatar and Russia were picked, and the U.S., I was on that bid committee until I had to step out of the lineup when I became nominated as ambassador.
But listen, these are tough negotiations. So I think you have to start, do you have willing leaders and willing residents in your area? And we have that overwhelmingly. I am personally passionate about soccer. Eric Adams is a huge fan. Our teams are, and, far more importantly, the residents of New Jersey and New York City, these are hotbeds of soccer.
Secondly, you’ve got to have a stadium that works. And ours does in MetLife. 82,500 seats, so it's big enough. It's relatively new. You've got some setback issues at the corners, which is a typical reality to make sure FIFA's regulations are respected. It's big enough, and the team that runs it, Ron VanDeVeen has been running it forever, and Giants Stadium before that. And obviously there were games in the '94 Cup in Jersey.
And then you negotiate. Listen, I don't begrudge this, but they're tough on their terms. I respect that. We respect that. I think at the end of the day, though, you've got to be able to embrace how big a deal this is. You've got to have sort of visibility on the horizon for how big an economic impact this is. What it does to just the brand in this case of New York City and New Jersey, what it will do as a legacy matter to the game and how it develops, particularly among the youth over the next number of years in New Jersey and New York City.
And I think if you don't factor that in, you'll likely look at all the other elements of this and say, "You know what? I'm not sure it's worth it." Some places apparently made that call, Chicago being most prominent among them. That was never an issue for us. This is a huge economic benefit, sport benefit, societal benefit. And if you see it that way, as tough as negotiations may be, you find a way to get there. And we did.
Grant Wahl:
I've had a lot of listeners ask me, "What exactly does FIFA ask for from a bid city? How much of your funding for your bid is public? How much is private?"
Governor Phil Murphy:
Yeah, I mean, I won't get into the details because there's a lot of line items and things like, who has access to suites and things of that nature. But this will be overwhelmingly privately funded. There'll be a host committee that will assemble over the next weeks and months. Clearly you need government support, most, I think importantly, in the energies of leaders, Mayor Adams himself. The government will be one source, but it will overwhelmingly be a private-sector reality with a robust host committee, robust sponsors.
Again, it's transformational. You know, we hosted the Super Bowl a number of years ago before I was governor. And somebody said to me in this process, "Hey, you know, the game might have been in New Jersey, but a lot of the action was in New York City." And whether that's true or not, I reminded the person we're not talking about one game, we're talking about a month of games and all that goes with that. Giants Stadium had a semifinal. But just imagine for a second, you've got, say, seven games and you've got the final, or you've got the opener. It's just transformational on both sides of the Hudson.
Grant Wahl:
I wanted to ask you a couple questions about Gotham FC. This was a club that faced some serious criticism and challenges a few years ago but is in a different spot now. How are you feeling about where Gotham FC is now?
Governor Phil Murphy:
A lot better than I was, but not yet where we need to be. A lot of people get credit, but we were underperforming. We won the first title in a prior league iteration [WPS], the first real professional women's title, and we haven't been back to the White House since. So that's my objective. And we're doing OK. We are sort of a pendulum team. We'll shut somebody out and then we'll get shut out. So we got a lot of good talent. We just need to get into a better rhythm.
And then off the field, we had a lot of challenges. We just weren't at the level that we wanted to be at. And we're the majority owners, but my wife [Tammy] came in as the chair several years ago and to her credit and the credit of a lot of the team, we have a managing partner named Ed Nalbandian who deserves an enormous amount of credit, Steve Temares who's been with me from day one, but we got the off-the-field stuff righted thankfully, and we're good on the field, but I think we can be very good and that's still in front of us.
Grant Wahl:
When you look at the NWSL as a league, how are you feeling about the state of the league right now?
Governor Phil Murphy:
Oh, a lot better. I mean a lot better. We're all playing in real stadiums. We've got a terrific commissioner [Jessica Berman]. We've expanded. San Diego Wave came in last weekend, and you look at them. They're a first-year team, and they're second in the table, I think. So it's not just expansion, but it's expansion with success. More people in the seats. We want to see more of that, a lot more.
I'll speak for Gotham. We're more ahead on the sponsor side than we are on getting bodies in the seats. So that's another big objective and challenge for us, but this league is, you just look at the quality of the ownership. The level of play has never been in question, but it continues to be the league in the world. Just feel really good about the trajectory. Again, we're not where we need to be or where we will be, but feel really good about the direction we're going in.
Grant Wahl:
Last question for you is just I'm curious to hear about some of your soccer experiences when you were an ambassador.
Governor Phil Murphy:
So I played a little bit when I was young and I was not good, still need to get that off my chest, Grant. And I couldn't have played for Bob Bradley at Princeton, I'll put it that way. My kids, we have four kids, all of them played through high school. One of them played on a national championship team in college. So it's in our blood. But we would go to games all the time.
I had lived in Germany as a private citizen in the '90s and became, even though I was already a soccer guy, more deeply infatuated by the game. But when we went back when I was U.S. ambassador, it was an extraordinary experience for us. We went to a lot of games, obviously most of them in Germany, but all over. We went to games in Spain and England, and our favorite home team was Hertha BSC, which barely survived relegation this year with an away-from-home 2-0 win against Hamburg in the last relegation playoff, so they'll stay up in the league next year. But just going to games, playing games, watching our kids play, just love the beautiful game indeed.
Grant Wahl:
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is a part owner of Gotham FC in the NWSL, and New Jersey's MetLife Stadium was just named as a host city for World Cup 2026. Governor Murphy, you're always welcome to come on and talk soccer. Thanks for coming on the show.
Governor Phil Murphy:
Great to be on, Grant. Thanks for having me.
Great interview, Grant. Regardless of politics, Murphy is a pretty smart guy.
And excuse my cynicism (which I think I acquired honestly), but is the reason FIFA hasn’t announced the site of the final is because they’re waiting to see who can slide the most cash under the table over the next year?