Flag Cities didn’t just fill a void — it prepared for one

Meadowlands Chamber CEO Jim Kirkos will admit, the announcement that the state
was abandoning plans for a Fan Festival at Liberty State Park certainly led to more
awareness of the GOYA Presents Flag Cities promotion, certainly led to more sponsors
signing on and certainly led to the big announcement Wednesday — that Newark and
Jersey City signed on as the fourth and fifth locations for the one-day festival concept.

But let’s be clear: Flag Cities certainly is not an overnight creation.

The concept — host a big festival the day before each of the five opening-round
matches of the World Cup at MetLife Stadium — has been percolating in the head of
Kirkos and Ron Simoncini, the head of co-host Axiom Communications, for more than
two years.

At a time when groups around the state are asking if it’s too late to get involved in the
World Cup, GOYA Presents Flag Cities is an example of preparing to take advantage of
an opportunity long before most others thought to do so.

“We wanted to make sure the area would really benefit from the World Cup,” Kirkos told
BINJE. “We felt like this was something that was needed — and wanted.”

That was clear Wednesday, when the Chamber and Axiom held an event with two
county executives and numerous mayors to announce that Mulberry Commons would
be the site of the Newark event and Christopher Columbus Drive would be the location
in Jersey City.

Both sites were finalized in recent days — but only after months of planning, Kirkos
said.

“Having these two locations is a key to what we are doing,” he said. “Which is bringing
the excitement of the event to the local communities.”

The even bigger announcement was that more sponsors had signed on:

NJ TRANSIT was named service partner, announcing plans to provide special
programming for transportation services — as well as a cooperative advertising and
notification program to riders.

FIFA official sponsor brands: Casamigos Tequila, Buchanan’s Scotch and Don
Julio1942 Tequila will collaborate to bring cocktails and brand experiences to life during
these events.

In Thyme Caterers of Moonachie has been named the official concessionaire. ESP
Event Productions and Mega Bite Events will serve as event production partners. And
New Jersey Youth Soccer will lead on-site activations for kids and families.

And then there’s Table to Table, New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue. It will serve as the official food security partner, adding a critical philanthropic touchpoint that will
serve to educate attendees, reduce food waste and feed local neighbors in need.

Each event, expected to last 5-6 hours, will feature food and fun and plenty of soccer —
in demonstrations, mini-games and on big screen TVs.

The first GOYA Presents Flag Cities event will be on June 12 (a Friday night) at
Christopher Columbus Drive in Jersey City.

In addition to serving as a warmup for the highly anticipated Brazil-Morocco game the
next day at MetLife, it will the opening game for the U.S. on the big screen.

Kirkos can’t wait.

He said the event is a way for the area to take full advantage of the event — something
the area did not do when the Super Bowl came in 2014.

Kirkos vowed then to never let it happen again. That’s why he has spent years
conceiving the Flag Cities concept.

“This is not something you can just put together overnight,” he said.

But it is something his crew can replicate.

With the FanFest gone, Kirkos said he would work to add more sites: Hackensack,
Paterson even Somerset have been suggested.

That would require funding, however.

“There are challenges in doing this,” he said. “Chief among them is security. We live in a
different world right now.”

That being said, Kirkos said his group would be willing to take more on – if the state is
willing or wanting to help.

“When we came up with this idea we never anticipated that there would be state
funding,” he said. “We’ve been planning to do this on our own. Even in the past few
weeks.”

The World Cup begins in less than 100 days. GOYA Presents Flag Cities is ready —
and has been ready for some time. That was never more clear than Wednesday
afternoon.