Mike Ham [0:23 - 0:23]: All right.
Mike Ham [0:23 - 0:34]: What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of greetings from the Garden State, powered by the New Jersey lottery. I'm your host, Mike Ham. We're here at MetLife Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey, with the co host city managers Lauren LaRusso and Bruce Revman. Guys, welcome to the show.
Lauren LaRusso [0:34 - 0:35]: Thanks for having us, Mike.
Mike Ham [0:35 - 0:47]: Absolutely. So we're talking World cup, everything World cup. But we also here are here, there's the New Jersey youth soccer camp going on down on the field right now. So talk to me a little bit about that and how that kind of ties into everything that we're talking about today.
Lauren LaRusso [0:47 - 1:24]: Yeah. Thank you, really. On behalf of Bruce and I, we really appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and talk about what we love, this passion for World cup. So today we have on the field about 700 kids that are going to come through. It was something that the New York, New Jersey 2026 World cup host committee had the idea to bring people together after Copa America, sort of make sure that we are giving back to the community anytime a big event comes in, especially on soccer. So the host committee decided to partner with the US Soccer foundation, which is our legacy partner. We're working with New Jersey youth soccer as well as.
Mike Ham [1:25 - 1:27]: You hear the kids having fun down there.
Lauren LaRusso [1:27 - 1:41]: Yeah, having fun as well as the YMCA's in New York City and New Jersey to partner with them, to bring in kids to kind of get an experience unlike any other. Messi just played here last night and they're playing on the same field as him.
Mike Ham [1:41 - 2:13]: That's really, it's really incredible. When you. We were just talking about that Thomas behind the camera, so we'll shout out Thomas, too, off camera before, like, the Copa America just was here last night, and, like, now kids are playing on the field and, like, just that whole relationship and kind of how that works here is really, it's really cool to see, and it's, you know, definitely not lost on what we're talking about. So let's talk about the host committee a little bit, because I think it would be cool for people that are listening to the show, that listen to the show to learn a little bit about what the host committee is and what you guys do. Bruce, if you want to take that.
Bruce Revman [2:13 - 2:17]: One, and I'll echo what Lauren said. Delight be with you guys.
Mike Ham [2:17 - 2:17]: Yeah, absolutely.
Bruce Revman [2:17 - 2:55]: This morning, really, at the end of the day, everything flows through the host organized committee we formed a year ago, a little over a year ago, but Laura and I have been working together for almost four and a half, five years. But officially became a host organizing committee in April of 2023. At the end of the day, everything that you see in the region, obviously, we don't control the pitch, the teams, the nations that make it, but everything from transportation, security, marketing, media commercialization, community events, originates at the heart of what we do, originates from the host organizing committee.
Mike Ham [2:55 - 3:17]: Yeah. And can you talk to me also a little bit about the relationship between, like, the New Jersey New York side? Because obviously, like, we talk about New Jersey screenings from the Garlands, that's what we do. But obviously we understand what the relationship is and why that was an important piece in getting not just World cup games here, but a final here as well. So talk to me about that relationship and working together and all that. Sure, go ahead.
Bruce Revman [3:17 - 3:18]: I'll start.
Mike Ham [3:18 - 3:18]: Okay.
Bruce Revman [3:19 - 4:21]: You know, we would not have been awarded the finals had we not had three and a half, four years of already strong working relationships. Yeah, I'm really proud. If there's anything that I can really feel good about, and I think I can speak for Lauren, is that we have set the bar high of how to work together across the river. You have a unified purpose, and we brought together the best minds in all areas of marketing, media, tourism, business, security, traffic, security, transportation, to show FIFA that this is the only place where the finals could be. And honestly, FIFA does themselves, I feel, a great service by hosting it in a region that knows how to host great big events. But the cooperation started with the state of New Jersey, city of New York, understanding what was at stake, egos aside, and we were successful. We have a lot of work, but we were very, very successful. Yeah, very proud of that.
Mike Ham [4:21 - 4:22]: Absolutely.
Lauren LaRusso [4:22 - 5:12]: I think something sort of special happened with the World cup. You know, always New York and New Jersey are working together 365 days, 24/7 always. You know, we're sort of very intimate family. You either work or play or live in one or the other. And so World cup, though, brought our city government, our community, our business leaders together in a way that transcends, and that's really what World cup does. You know, Bruce and I have talked about it before. You know, World cup is a celebration of neighborhoods, and really it is the coming together for us of New York and New Jersey in a very unified manner that elevates the two of them in a way unlike any other event we've ever done together. In 2026, you're looking at the biggest event ever to happen in the world.
Mike Ham [5:12 - 5:13]: Yeah.
Lauren LaRusso [5:13 - 5:14]: Not only soccer.
Mike Ham [5:14 - 5:14]: Sure.
Lauren LaRusso [5:14 - 5:15]: Biggest event.
Mike Ham [5:15 - 5:16]: Biggest. Yeah.
Lauren LaRusso [5:16 - 5:30]: Yeah. We have three countries, 16 host cities, eleven in the United States, 104 matches, eight of them played here, including the final. And on that day, July 19 in 2026, we'll have 3 billion people looking at this place.
Mike Ham [5:30 - 6:27]: That's. It's really, when you start to think of it and that. That scale, it's. Yeah, I can't even wrap my head around numbers like that, you know, but it's really impressive. And, like, we were just talking, or we will talk, you know, in the future, but with Steve Santonis or Sansonis, who runs a facility here, and just talking about how, you know, obviously the Super bowl was here ten years ago, and there's obviously big events that come through here. We do big every day. Yeah, we do big things here. But it's. It's not even. It's like just scratching the surface almost when you start talking about a World cup final and just World cup games in general. So talk to me also about the. Getting the final. Cause I think that must have been such a win for all the hard work. Like you said, officially for a year, year and a half, but unofficially for four or five years, I think you said. But talk to me about what that moment was like when they announced it and we knew that you were like, oh, boy, now we have a lot more work to do. Yeah.
Bruce Revman [6:27 - 6:29]: I mean, some people say, be careful.
Mike Ham [6:29 - 6:30]: What you wait for. Yeah, sure.
Bruce Revman [6:31 - 6:37]: See it like that. I don't think we see it like that. In terms of the first part of your question, what did it feel like? It was euphoria.
Mike Ham [6:37 - 6:38]: Oh, yeah.
Bruce Revman [6:39 - 7:56]: The beauty of it is, we had about 500 people in the stadium here, actually, and we did not know until everybody else knew the beauty of winning. It was not only could we share with all the people who worked so hard that we invited to. To this event, also our families, and to be able to win it for the region, win it for everybody who was working so hard, because this is not about us. This is about the region. Everybody on both sides of the river, Governor Murphy, Mayor Adams put so much into this, and to be there with them and share that moment was spectacular. And I'll just say that in the process process of winning the finals, we never took anything for granted. While we thought everybody knew everything that the region had to offer, we never assumed they did. So when we did the process of putting all of our presentations together, it was as if you did not know all that we had for resources, infrastructure, support across both rivers. And we made it very clear that this is where they need it to be. And we think they made the right decision. We know they made the right decision.
Mike Ham [7:56 - 7:57]: For sure. I agree with that.
Lauren LaRusso [7:57 - 8:57]: It was for us to, you know, something of pride. You know, we could say that we left it all out on the field. We said that, you know, at every step of the way. It was like a roller coaster. You know, sometimes we thought we were doing it, sometimes we did it and we didn't know. It's hard to read a situation. But I think overall we leaned in heavily with Governor Murphy and Mayor Adams into our diversity. We really spoke about our values here and we're welcoming the world lives here. We wanted to have FIFA project that during their, you know, biggest moment, which is the final of the World cup, to say to the world, this is how you do it and this is how FIFA wants to do it and welcome people and be inclusive. And we're really happy. You know, they saw our vision and it just was a, it was a great moment. Again, as you said, to share with our family, too, because World cup to me was about bringing it back home to your family. You know, grandparents, parents that you watch games with your kids. It was all about the family in the end.
Mike Ham [8:57 - 9:25]: Yeah. I think it's so great that you guys talk about, like, you talk about the region and the communities and the family and everything. And what I think makes the most sense, really, about just it being here and especially the final being here, is that if this part of Jersey, New York City obviously as well, it's like a microcosm of the United States and all the communities that exist in the country and the world. Literally right here in the world. Exactly. And right here. So you have how many countries playing here? 16, I think you said, oh, there'll.
Lauren LaRusso [9:25 - 9:27]: Be 48 countries that qualify.
Mike Ham [9:27 - 9:36]: Okay, 48 countries that qualify. I should have done my homework on that. But, you know, they're here and you can almost like, find communities around this area that fit that team.
Bruce Revman [9:36 - 9:47]: And Governor Murphy always says that regardless of the two nations that play, any game here likely can fill the stadium up simply because those nations have communities in New York and New Jersey.
Mike Ham [9:48 - 9:48]: Yeah, exactly.
Bruce Revman [9:48 - 10:01]: And I think that can't be lost in the translation of why we're so excited about having the seven games and the 8th game being the finals is that this stadium will fill up.
Mike Ham [10:01 - 10:02]: It will fill up.
Bruce Revman [10:02 - 10:03]: We're not worried about that.
Mike Ham [10:03 - 10:06]: No, that's. Yeah, that's never, never ended to that point, though.
Lauren LaRusso [10:06 - 10:51]: What we're doing and what we all work with FIFA on is doing very large scale fan festivals, one in New York and one in New Jersey, that will run the length of the tournament so that even if you can't get the opportunity to come here, you could still have that community aspect, that excitement, feeling like you're in a World cup host city. We are looking at two large parks to host, you know, upwards of 50,000 people. That doesn't take away, though, to other organic watch parties that we know will happen in the bars, and we want that in the restaurants. We want our hotels filled in New Jersey and in New York. But we want to create that atmosphere that transcends also the stadium. This is a beautiful gem, and we're so proud of it in New Jersey. But we want to infiltrate and spread sort of the World cup spirit throughout the state of New Jersey.
Mike Ham [10:51 - 11:31]: Yeah. And I think going off that, too, you know, people like the average New Jersey and the average New Yorker, the people that are part of this region, you know, obviously, we talked about at the outset, the opening of the episode about the youth soccer stuff and everything and the parties when the actual games are being played, but it's two years away. So I think one of the things that I would be curious about is making sure that you're, how are you connecting with those average citizens that live here, that this is going to impact their lives in a lot of ways when the games are actually starting here. So communicating with them, educating them, engaging with them, and making sure that they know what's available to them, essentially, yeah.
Bruce Revman [11:31 - 11:55]: I mean, it's a great question, and it's an important element that we're spending a lot of time in. One of the things we also realize, when you want to spread the gospel of what World cup is, it can't just come from the host committee. We have a lot of ambassadors, our stakeholders. The reason why you bring them in is because their voice shouts out whether it be an event like this, obviously for children, there are other events that we're going to do on the business community.
Lauren LaRusso [11:56 - 11:57]: We're doing one tonight.
Bruce Revman [11:57 - 12:40]: Yeah, we're doing one tonight. So what we're trying to do is share with those who also can share, and that may manifest itself in a lot of different ways. It may be on the field opportunities, on the pitch opportunities. Hopefully, it'll be business opportunities. It'll be other, the next two years will be other events in the community that we're going to want to build up. We have a big event likely next year with club. You know, keep our fingers crossed. Hopefully, we'll, we'll know more soon. So there's a lot of different activities that we want to have over the next two years. But, you know, our host organizing committee is a tight group. So we know we have to rely on others who have voices that can share, who have. Who understand what the opportunity is and help us get out that word of what World cup should be.
Mike Ham [12:40 - 12:40]: Yeah.
Lauren LaRusso [12:40 - 12:59]: To that point, you know, for us, it's the entire state of New Jersey hosting, so. And we have the benefit of Philadelphia being a host city as well. We have a great. Bruce and I have a great working relationship with the Philadelphia host committee and engaging in South Jersey in a way that, you know, has never been done before with Metlife.
Mike Ham [12:59 - 13:00]: Right.
Lauren LaRusso [13:00 - 13:48]: You know, a lot of folks in South Jersey consider their city Philadelphia, which is great. We want to make them also feel a part of our hosting at this stadium, but also, you know, take advantage of Philadelphia. And so we work with all the tourism boards, the chambers in South Jersey, as well as throughout the state, to kind of think through how we're going to make this come to life for them. How are the businesses going to engage? How are we going to do downtown, watch parties? And what can we also do in community programming, education, arts, culture, and tourism that we can take advantage of for not only the North Jersey part and obviously New York City, but central and South New Jersey as well? It's just a very unique asset that World cup is, and we want to leverage it for all it's worth and make sure everyone feels a part of it.
Mike Ham [13:48 - 14:10]: Yeah, I love it, and I really appreciate you guys jumping on with us and taking time out of what I'm sure is just consistently busy schedule for you. And we're looking forward to kind of following along and watching over the next two years all the stuff that kind of is scheduled and everything like that. So if people are watching, listening, like, where are some places they can go to kind of follow along with what you guys are doing?
Lauren LaRusso [14:10 - 14:24]: Sure. We have a website. It's NY and J FWC 26, as well as social media handle, which is FwCNY and J 26.
Mike Ham [14:24 - 14:31]: Awesome. Well, Bruce, Lauren, thank you guys so much for jumping on with us today. We really appreciate it, and we're looking forward to it.
Lauren LaRusso [14:31 - 14:33]: Yeah, thanks so much for having us.
Bruce Revman [14:33 - 14:34]: Taking a look in a New York City guy.
Mike Ham [14:34 - 14:35]: Enjoy your podcast.
Lauren LaRusso [14:35 - 14:36]: Yeah.
Mike Ham [14:36 - 15:48]: First time ever. Never happened before. There you go. So we'll be right back. This is the greens from the Garter State podcast, powered by the New Jersey lottery. I'm Mike Ham. We'll see you soon. Hey, folks, I want to tell you about the crew over at make cool shit. These are the magicians who recently gave our podcast a jaw dropping makeover. You know how we roll here at greetings from the Garden State podcast, right? We're all about that garden State attitude. Well, make cool shit shares that same vibe, and they've got something absolutely epic to offer. It's called the unlimited cool shit design subscription. It's a game changer, my friends. Imagine this. Unlimited creativity, one flat monthly fee, and none of that boring stuff. It's like having your very own army of design superheroes on speed dial. Whether you're a fresh race startup or a seasoned business looking to shake things up, the team at Makeool shit has got your back. It's all about making your brand sizzle, no matter where you are in your journey. So if you're ready to turn your ideas into mind blowing realities, then it's time to connect with Makecool ship. Check them out on instagram at Wemakecoolshit, or visit their website. We Makecoolshit co. Remember, that's co not calm. All right, we're back for a special episode of greetings with a garden saved, powered by the New Jersey lottery. I'm, of course, Mike Ham. We're here with Steve Sansoniz, now vp of operations and events here at MetLife Stadium. Nailed it.
Mike Ham [15:48 - 15:48]: There you go.
Mike Ham [15:48 - 15:56]: I had to memorize that whole thing, and I got the whole thing. I'm pretty excited about that. So this is, like, a pretty exciting time at MetLife Stadium for everybody, really. Right?
Mike Ham [15:56 - 15:59]: We're absolutely thrilled. I mean, we just had Copa America.
Mike Ham [15:59 - 16:01]: That was last night at the time of this recording, right?
Mike Ham [16:01 - 16:20]: Successful, successful event. We did it in 2016, and then again in 2024. We had three matches here. Two of the matches had 80,000 plus people. The other match at 45,000. Again, very good. Everyone we worked with was very happy, and we put on some top notch events here. So it was a good time.
Mike Ham [16:20 - 16:41]: Yeah. That's awesome. And so, talk to me a little bit about. Because I'm curious, when we're talking about an event at the scale of a World cup, and, you know, you talk about Copa America, and obviously, like, jets, Giants games here all the time, concerts, everything that happens in this place, how does an event like the World cup differ from what normally goes on here, like the day to day?
Mike Ham [16:41 - 16:47]: I don't think any event can compare to the World cup. The closest that we can compare to here at MetLife, in our experience, is Super bowl.
Mike Ham [16:47 - 16:48]: Right. And that was.
Mike Ham [16:48 - 16:50]: That was, what, 20, 1410 years ago already?
Mike Ham [16:51 - 16:51]: That's crazy.
Mike Ham [16:51 - 17:33]: That was ten years ago. These mega events. I'm gonna say these like a Super Bowl, World cup, it's an event where you're using your stadium blueprint but then you're expanding beyond stadium is being used so much more than it would typically be for a Giants jets game or a regular friendly soccer match. So for example, you know with, with World cup we will have obviously what's in the stadium. We'll be building within the stadium to enhance it, to achieve their media goals, their broadcast goals, what they call overlay. And then outside the stadium, our perimeter, our gates actually expand into a bigger blueprint from a security perspective and from perspective housing, everything FIFA has to do here on site.
Mike Ham [17:33 - 17:46]: Yeah. And talk to me about like other changes or anything that happens here within the facility. Like as far as like the, we talked about the pitch off mic a little bit and just kind of like the seating and the capacity and everything like that. Does anything change here with that?
Speaker E [17:46 - 17:46]: Yeah.
Mike Ham [17:46 - 18:34]: So FIFA makes you have a pitch that is 68 meters wide by 105 meters in length. We've always had the length because an american football field is larger than, has long. More length than a soccer field. Our width was lacking. So we've been going through a project. We started planning the project in 2020, I want to say about expanding the stadium pitch width. So to do that we have to remove seats. We did the east side of the stadium this year and we removed up to ten rows of seats in certain sections out of the west side of the stadiums next year. So it's a two phase project. So we still can have our stadium events and the calendar working in the summer and that will be done in May of 25 and we'll be ready obviously for World cup in 26.
Mike Ham [18:34 - 18:54]: Yeah. And talk to me a little bit about too the, like all these projects that you're working on now. But obviously, I mean there's still two teams that call this place home. There's concerts, there's everything that's happening. Kind of juggling those two things together and making sure that people that are coming through the stadium for those events over the next two years really are still having a prime experience when they.
Mike Ham [18:54 - 20:01]: Come through here, of course. So we're one of the busiest teams in America, if not the busiest, with our event schedule. And to obviously accommodate that event schedule we have to do construction projects and things like that around when we typically have events. So we've gotten to a really good routine so far the past few years with the construction projects. And what we do here is have NFL football in the fall the minute our NFL teams season is over. That's when we do our construction schedule. We have been working with our contractors to make sure construction is completed by April or May, and that allows us to have our summer event schedule, but it doesn't also stop us from having other events. For example, with the NHL Stadium series here in February, and we were able to shut down construction for two weeks, hide the construction zone. We had a huge hole in the wall on both sides where we demoed to do the thief expansion. We scaffolded over it, hit it, put some nice signage on it, and we were able to have an event. And then we went back into, obviously, construction mode. So we are able to work within it, but our goal is always to finish sometime around May, so our summer event schedule isn't hindered in any way.
Mike Ham [20:01 - 20:30]: Right. And then also talk to me a little bit about, know as you're, you know, building out towards the World cup coming here and all that. So take me through almost like, the idea of other stadiums almost in the world. Like, are you talking to any other stadiums? Like, how do you handle something like this? You know, you talked about the Super bowl and obviously, but that was still ten years ago, and there's been so many changes over the last ten years just in the world and kind of working with other places where that have hosted something like this and have had success. So talk to me a little bit about that.
Mike Ham [20:30 - 21:49]: Yeah, so the nice part is in 2022, we got the 2022, we got the opportunity to go to Qatar and see, you know, what World cup stadiums, what their expectations were from FIFA. So that was a good blueprint on what they would want for their overlay and how they'd be building out their stadiums. All american stadiums have been going through this process now since, I want to say, 2018. That's when we first got into the host city. Agreements and sites were selected in the 2022 as well. So we've had a lot of time to talk with each other and see how far do you have to expand? What do you have to do? How are you building this out? How are you doing your pitch? Certain things like that. You know, certain american stadiums like us were synthetic turf fields, so we had to build a completely new grass field on top of the FIFA World cup. So we talked to other artificial turf stadiums to compare how they're doing that. The newer football stadiums are usually a little more narrow with their pitches or their fields because the NFL experience is a lot shorter width of the field. So in the stadiums are built a little different. So the newer stadiums like us, Dallas, you know, Sofi and Los Angeles. I think we're experiencing the same, I don't want to say problems or issues, but topics to talk about when it comes to. We need to enlarge our width and everything because we don't have that space because we have field level clubs, they have field level seats. So those are conversations we've had.
Mike Ham [21:49 - 22:01]: Yeah. And then, so you mentioned also we're talking about the pitch a little bit and the idea of building a grass field essentially on top of a turf field. Like, that's got to be like a whole, a whole project type of thing.
Mike Ham [22:01 - 23:08]: Yes, it is. Basically, we've been researching this since 2020 as well, and we reached out to one of FIFA's consultants for pitches and basically said, what have you done for past World Cups and how do you build from scratch? And then they've given us a good blueprint. And what we have to do is basically build on top of our synthetic that consists of building, putting our concert flooring down and then building a layer of what we call Geocell, which is think of a big plastic pallet, and that allows in that pallet irrigation and vacuum ventilation to go through, which FIFA requires for their pitches. And then above that, Geocell is what we call the root zone. And that will be about eight to ten inches of root zone matter, which is basically sand and organic matter that consists of, we'll call it soil for easy purposes. And then on top of that's where the turf goes. And again, once that turf goes down in April, late April, early May of 2026, the field will look like a fully functioning grass field. That will not be an overlay to, like what you saw at Cobra America.
Mike Ham [23:08 - 23:40]: Yeah. And also talk to me a little bit about, from going back almost to the visitor, the guest here at MetLife. And obviously, like, if they've been to, I've been cut to concerts here, I'm coming to Kenny Chesney in August and, you know, like, been to Giants games before and stuff. Aside from kind of like the seating and the width of the field, talk to me about, like things that you're working on to make sure that when the, like a visitor, a guest comes in, they have a great experience, like how that experience is going to differ from maybe their normal day to day coming to a Giants game or a Jets game or a concert.
Mike Ham [23:40 - 24:40]: Again at MetLife Stadium, we treat, you know, all our guests. The experience should be the same no matter what event is across the board. You know, every guest should have an amazing experience. If it's a Giants game, a concert, obviously a FIFA event. The, I would say the amenities for certain events will change with what the event wants to do and host for FIFA. They have a big, you know, they're going to have a huge brand activation area on the parking lots. They're going to have corporate hospitality. They're going to have specific hospitality that's sold to certain fan groups that is done in these big, what I would call giant compounds that we're doing in the plaza, that tents and structures that are built specifically for that within the stadium. They will use our clubs for their hospitality experiences. Well, and they'll bring in different things, so you'll see that. Again, I would say just from the fan perspective, their experience isn't changing because it's a great experience all around, no matter what. It's just their options of what FIFA may offer may be different from what the jets or giants or concert might offer for different amenities to do during the game.
Mike Ham [24:40 - 25:06]: Yeah, for sure. And then I also think it's interesting too, you know, and like this will kind of be the last question before we wrap up, but the final, I think, is such like a huge thing for an area like this to get. And I think it really speaks to like, the quality of the experience and, you know, what you guys do here. Is there anything that like differs? You know, like is it kind of building up for those initial matches and then the final? Talk to me, is there any like, differences there?
Mike Ham [25:06 - 25:54]: Yeah. So for the final, obviously it is a unique experience in being final for the FIFA World cup. And there what I'm going to say is their footprint is just a lot larger than you might have at a group stage match. So you're going to have much more area for international press. You're going to have much more area for broadcast, which requires killing seats and building different things around the stadium. You have to expand the press box, you have to do things like that. The hospitality experiences outside will be much larger. The brand activation will be much larger. We'll have ceremonies, we'll have, I don't know, 100%, but I believe they'll have entertainment in the form of a concert that they'll have on the pitch, pre or post match in the final. So there's just a lot more that obviously goes into it. Think of like the Super bowl versus maybe a first round playoff game in the NFL.
Mike Ham [25:54 - 25:54]: Right.
Mike Ham [25:54 - 25:57]: So it's gonna be a lot, but we're very excited for it.
Mike Ham [25:57 - 26:06]: Yeah. Oh, I'm excited and I think this is great. So I really appreciate you jumping on with us and taking some time out of what I'm sure is a busy, like, every day now.
Mike Ham [26:06 - 26:07]: My pleasure.
Mike Ham [26:07 - 26:09]: Yeah. Awesome. So thank you. Yep.
Mike Ham [26:09 - 26:09]: Thank you.
Mike Ham [26:09 - 26:50]: And this was the greetings. This is the greetings with Garden State podcast powered by the New Jersey lottery. We were just here with Steve Sansonese, the VP of operation events at MetLife Stadium. I'm Mike Ham. We'll be right back. The Mayo Performing Arts center is the heart of arts and entertainment in Morristown, New Jersey. MPAC presents over 200 events annually and is home to an innovative children's arts education program. To see MPAC's upcoming schedule of world class concert, stand up comedy, family shows, and more, head to mayoarts.org or just click the link in our show notes. All right, we're back for our third and final segment of this episode of greetings from the Garden State powered by the New Jersey lottery. We're here with Jim Kirkos, who is the CEO and president of the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce. So, Jim, welcome to the show.
Speaker E [26:50 - 26:51]: Thanks for having me. I'm excited about this.
Mike Ham [26:52 - 27:19]: I'm excited, too. So we've had, we had Lauren and Bruce and Steve already on the show, and we kind of learned from the host committee side, from the facility side. But I'm really excited to talk to you because what this show is really all about, and has been since its inception, is community. And like, the people that live in a specific area, the local businesses that exist in that area. So talk to me. Let's just kind of do. Meadowlands Chamber is more than just a chamber of commerce. So talk to me a little bit about what it is and what else you guys do beyond that.
Speaker E [27:19 - 28:05]: Well, first of all, let me tell you that I'm really happy you used the word community, because we're all about community. The Chamber of commerce, we're 50 years old and we represent what I call the Greater Meadowlands region, 2030 communities outside circumferencing, the sports complex. And so over the years, as a business organization, we represent businesses for economic development and economic growth. Traditional Chamber of Commerce. But we also operate a tourism bureau called Meadowlands Live Convention and visits Bureau. And our job is to market the region as a destination and highlight all the great aspects of the destination, where to play, where to stay, where to eat, where to shop, where to have fun. And that's our role. So it doesn't get any bigger than we're talking about World Cup 2026 coming in here to accomplish all that.
Mike Ham [28:05 - 28:09]: Yeah, for sure. Were you as part of the chamber when the Super bowl came through here.
Speaker E [28:09 - 28:31]: We were, as a matter of fact, I'm going to age myself a little bit now. I was part of the host committee in 1994 when we hosted the first committee as a business owner and as a member, I was in business as a member of the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce. And then now during Super bowl, we were part of the host committee. And as we are now with the New York, New Jersey host Committee for World cup.
Mike Ham [28:31 - 28:53]: Yeah. Talk to me a little bit about what you guys are doing almost for businesses in the area. You talk about all the stuff that kind of is going on around this. And I think one of the big things, too, is looking at local businesses as well because obviously it gets a lot of national attention, but almost preparing local businesses for what's to come, because I think even if you think you're prepared, I don't think that you are.
Speaker E [28:53 - 28:57]: You're absolutely right. And I think, I think that we've learned a lot of lessons over the years.
Mike Ham [28:57 - 28:57]: Yeah.
Speaker E [28:57 - 29:09]: From 94 and then all the other major events that come here, including Super bowl. And we've learned that we can as a community and as a state. I'm a middleman's guy and I'm a Jersey guy.
Mike Ham [29:10 - 29:10]: We love that.
Speaker E [29:10 - 29:22]: Right. We need to make sure we're just not sitting around waiting to, for business to come to our local communities expecting that that's going to happen without us doing anything.
Mike Ham [29:22 - 29:23]: Right?
Speaker E [29:23 - 30:01]: That's false. We need to be proactive. We need to start right now. I feel it's our responsibility as a business organization to enlighten our business members, enlighten our local communities that, especially those that have beautiful downtown districts with eateries and places to shop. We need to showcase. This is a, we won't get this opportunity again in my lifetime to be able to do this. And so we really want to do everything we can get creative about showcasing and branding and making sure that those visitors that come to see World cup from all over the world get to know all the great little places and all the great little communities we have in this area.
Mike Ham [30:01 - 30:33]: Yeah. And talk to me almost, too, about the relationship. You know, like we just talked about how we had Lauren and Bruce on the beginning of the episode and kind of the relationships between the host committees and the stadium here and everything, and making sure that those relationships are symbiotic and there are opportunities for collaboration or, you know, education and awareness and everything like that. Like, because we talked also that this is a two years away and it's one of those things where because it's two years away. I think sometimes people are like, that's two years away. We'll figure it out. This is nonstop around the clock, really?
Speaker E [30:33 - 31:08]: Absolutely. We're working right now. We have active committees on the membership side. I have active committees on my board side. We're creatively thinking about how to do this, and I feel like we should be a conduit of information from the host committee to the community and to our members to make sure they're fully aware of everything that's going on and fully aware of what they can and can't do. And I've shared this with Lauren and Bruce and others that we, we will always wear two hats, right? I will wear two hats. I will do everything in my power to help the stadium, as we always do, bring big events here because it's impactful.
Mike Ham [31:08 - 31:08]: Hundred percent.
Speaker E [31:08 - 31:47]: I will help the host committee in any way possible. At the end of the day, my real responsibility is to our members into the local communities. Right. And so we want to make sure we're activating all that we can, especially in those local communities. So we will be great collaborators and get great partners. And up until now, I have to tell things are really different with World cup than in past big events. And I don't want to disparage any past big events that took place, especially like Super bowl. But New Jersey and the host committee so far has been open arms in all their collaboration, and I expect it to be the governor Murphy has been outstanding supporter of this. I think if it wasn't for him, we probably wouldn't have gotten the final.
Mike Ham [31:47 - 31:48]: Sure.
Speaker E [31:48 - 31:59]: To Metlife Stadium. There's probably a lot of reasons that FIFA chose us, but it really is all about that energy and that open arms and let's do this as a state and the community and as partners with New York.
Mike Ham [31:59 - 32:31]: Yeah, you mentioned in that answer too, about the. There are a lot of reasons why FIFA chose this area, this, this region to host, especially the final. I mean, games. Great. I mean, there's, what is it? Eleven cities, I think, that are hosting games throughout, throughout the World cup. But to have a final here and everything I think is super important. And I speak, I think speaks to the region itself. And so you talk about like the, the travel and tourism and the businesses, the business side of it. So from your perspective in your world, talk to me about why this is the spot to do a final.
Speaker E [32:31 - 32:44]: So I tell people all the time, looking back even to Super bowl to now, we are a better destination in terms of what I call destination assets. Right? American dream wasn't open.
Mike Ham [32:45 - 32:48]: It was sitting there. It was still being built.
Speaker E [32:48 - 33:15]: I was in american dream yesterday before the Argentine Canada game. There was tens of thousands of fans in that american dream and having some fun before they came here. So we are a better destination now than before. We are the most ethnically diverse, the most ethnically tolerant. Right. We are a region where the transportation system is good. There are so many reasons why we should have won the final. And at the end of the day, I trust that that's why FIFA chose us.
Mike Ham [33:15 - 33:39]: Yeah. And talk to me also, like, about, like, the pockets of communities, because obviously there's, you know, everything. A lot of things are going to happen here because this is where the games are going to be being played, but just the surrounding area and the communities that exist. And I think there's going to be like, you know, smaller events or different things, like activation type things for fans and everything, not just when the games are being played in here or played here, but almost leading up to that. Right?
Speaker E [33:39 - 34:34]: Yeah, no, absolutely. In fact, listen, I think it's safe to say that probably every community around here is represented by just about every ethnicity that will be here at the stadium in large ways. In large ways. And so we want to activate the communities to embrace the ethnic cultures. I can see local communities doing watch parties and food festivals and craft shows and things with youth soccer really helping the community embrace World cup as opposed to being nuanced by World cup. We want people to enjoy the fact that the biggest game on the planet has come to have eight games right in our backyard, and we want to leverage it. There's no bigger opportunity for us to showcase all the reasons. It's a great place to do business. It's a great place to live, it's a great place to visit. Those reasons we have at our doorstep.
Mike Ham [34:34 - 34:57]: Yeah. And I think also, and we made it, talked about this, but if we did, I apologize. The idea that when all this huge influx of people comes into this area, you know, having the infrastructure around it obviously is important, but also, you know, from just like local business owners and different things like that and just the education on how to handle that, I think it's important as well. Right?
Speaker E [34:57 - 35:23]: Totally. We've already started a business seminar on how to protect themselves with international contracts, how to showcase themselves, how to be better at marketing, digital marketing, social media, how to showcase their businesses. This is an opportunity for small businesses, especially main street downtown businesses, to really raise their game, using the event to raise their game, and then ultimately it lasts so much longer. Than after World cup leaves because they'll be better businesses.
Mike Ham [35:23 - 35:37]: Right. Because I mean, I think that's, you know, you see some, not in this area but parts of the world where like there's a big event and there's a lot of economic stuff happening and then the event leaves and then it's, yeah, it quiets down to nothing.
Speaker E [35:37 - 35:48]: And that's what we're saying. And like, I mean it when I say that, I feel like it's our responsibility to take hold of it. Right. If we don't get the economic impact. I'm not going to blame FIFA.
Mike Ham [35:48 - 35:48]: Sure.
Speaker E [35:48 - 35:49]: I'm going to blame me.
Mike Ham [35:49 - 35:49]: Exactly.
Speaker E [35:49 - 35:50]: I'm going to blame us.
Mike Ham [35:50 - 35:50]: Right.
Speaker E [35:50 - 35:53]: Right. It's our responsibility. The tool is here. Right.
Mike Ham [35:53 - 35:57]: The games are, there's a huge opportunity here for us.
Speaker E [35:57 - 36:17]: So what does that mean? That means the state, local municipalities, the local counties, they have to find some financial resources to market and brand the assets that are in their region. We have to do the same and we have to be smart about telling the story over the next two years so that when we do get that influx of people, they know where to go, where to play, where to stay, where to eat, right. Where to shop, everything that we talked about.
Mike Ham [36:17 - 36:37]: Yeah, I love that. And I love, this was a great way to kind of end this because I do think that we talked about at the beginning of this segment tying it into the community and the people that live here and all the things that this region and this area, this specific area very locally has to offer. I think it's incredible. I mean, like, I live in Bloomfield, so it's still within that, like 20 minutes away.
Speaker E [36:37 - 36:38]: Totally.
Mike Ham [36:38 - 36:51]: And just knowing what's available to me and being able to pop over here and see what's here, go to american dream, go to a game, go to a concerte, all the other stuff, you know, the downtowns and everything, I think it's, it's amazing. And like, where else really in the world, like, has that.
Speaker E [36:51 - 37:02]: Here's a, here's something that's interesting. We do a lot of, we do a lot of surveying of both our members and visitors that come here and even people that are residents of the area. There's so many times that somebody in Lyndhurst.
Mike Ham [37:02 - 37:03]: Yeah.
Speaker E [37:03 - 37:07]: Has never been to Hoboken to go to a restaurant or Jersey City.
Mike Ham [37:07 - 37:07]: Right.
Speaker E [37:07 - 37:12]: Or Hackensack or some other bar. People tend to stay in their own little sphere.
Mike Ham [37:12 - 37:12]: Right.
Speaker E [37:12 - 37:32]: And it's our job to make sure they're branching out over that. Right. And this is a great opportunity for us to not only showcase to incoming visitors that have never been here before, but it's an opportunity for us to show local residents all that there is in their entire region where they live and expose them to some really, some cut, some cool, fun things that they can do.
Mike Ham [37:32 - 37:42]: Yeah, absolutely. So people are looking for those cool, fun things to do. They're looking for the education piece of it. They want to know more about the chamber and some stuff that you guys offer. Where would you send them to go do that?
Speaker E [37:42 - 38:07]: Yeah. We have two particular websites. We have meadowlands.org, comma, which is the chambers website. And then we have MLCVB Meadowlands live convention, and visit bureau.com dot. MLCvB has got a great calendar tool. It showcases all the things we got a countdown clock for World cup already there. And we'll be using that as an information center to pass information on to our members and to visitors as to what's happening as World cup approaches.
Mike Ham [38:07 - 38:10]: Awesome. Jim, thank you so much for jumping on with us today. We really appreciate it.
Speaker E [38:10 - 38:11]: Thanks for having me.
Mike Ham [38:11 - 38:32]: Thank you to Thomas behind the camera. Thank you to Kate for getting this all set up. And thank you to Lauren, Bruce, and Steve, everyone that joined us on the episode today. This has been a special episode here at MetLife Stadium, Rutherford, New Jersey, about the World cup coming in 2026. This has been the Greenhouse Week RSA podcast powered by the New Jersey lottery. I'm Mike Ham. Thank you for listening. We'll catch you next time.
Speaker E [38:32 - 38:47]: Do you wanna lie? You owe my mind, baby, do you wanna ride? Oh, tell me before you go on the way?
Lauren LaRusso [38:47 - 38:48]: Do you wanna.
