This year’s version of the Meadowlands Chamber’s always fabulous Legacy Gala was aimed at honoring many of the folks who are responsible for bringing the world’s biggest sporting event — the final of the 2026 World Cup — to MetLife Stadium.
Gov. Phil Murphy and first lady Tammy Murphy, whose passion for the moment clearly impacted the selection committee;
Former Choose New Jersey CEO Jose Lozano, who led all aspects of the pitch process;
MetLife Stadium CEO Ron VanDeVeen, who showed how the stadium was ready to have the eyes of the world on it;
And Robert De Niro.
Really?
To be sure, De Niro was not among the Who’s Who crowd that gathered for the event Thursday night inside MetLife Stadium. But he was part of the effort — and the subject of the best anecdote of the night.
Murphy called De Niro the unsung hero.
The governor explained how the first lady got De Niro to narrate the promotional video, “The World is Welcome” — a 3-minute, 17-second production that highlighted the region’s diversity, one of the key selling points.
Then, the first lady got De Niro to call in and speak to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, during a key presentation in which New Jersey was pitching to host the final.
“How cool is that?” Murphy asked an overflow crowd of a few hundred who were sitting just a few hundred feet away from where the match will be played.
“And by the way, they spoke in Italian. So, we thought, ‘That’s a good sign.’”
Tales of the effort were told throughout the program.
How the governor and first lady cleared their schedule whenever a World Cup effort was needed.
How Lozano and his team orchestrated a brilliant opening to their final match pitch: Playing the video in a dark room before opening the curtains to a perfect view of the Statue of Liberty.
How VanDeVeen showed the stadium’s long history of hosting top-level events.
How Murphy, who didn’t know the decision until it was announced, seemingly jumped 10 feet into the air when Infantino told a global audience that the final was coming to New Jersey.
Jim Kirkos, the longtime CEO of the Meadowlands Chamber — someone who has spent two decades doing all he can to bring marquee events to the region — said he wanted to thank those four, as well as Steve Edwards, the head of the N.J. Hall of Fame, for their efforts.
Kirkos was especially gracious toward the Murphys.
“The single most important factor was the energy and the commitment shown by the governor and first lady,” he said. “It was clearly evident and had a real impact on the decision to make MetLife a host (site).”
It then helped land the grand prize, Kirkos said.
“After lengthy and hard negotiations over many months, it was the complete determination by Phil and Tammy that eventually won the battle,” he said.
Tammy Murphy, who now serves as the chair of the board of directors for the New York-New Jersey Host Committee, was quick to pass along the credit to others.
“It’s something that not only we are very proud of, and we’re working steadily on every single day, but we wouldn’t be here without the business community, without our government interlocutors, and without everybody having the fight and the will and the absolute enthusiasm for all that this is going to mean for this region,” she said.
Lozano and VanDeVeen also praised the greater effort — with Lozano dedicating his honor to all those who helped in the effort.
It’s an effort that will put three million eyeballs onto the region.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup final will be the most watched television event in human history.
And the Meadowlands will be front and center of it all.
