Saraceno cheers shift to local World Cup events – and salutes Sherrill for making tough call

John Saraceno, co-founder and managing partner of Onyx Equities, has always been a big supporter of both the World Cup and the state of New Jersey.

That’s why he helped organize the first group to step up as a supporter of the World Cup Host Committee — an opportunity, he felt, to showcase New Jersey in a positive way to the world.

Saraceno has never been a fan of holding a Fan Festival at Liberty State Park in Jersey City.

So, when BINJE broke the news Thursday morning that the state was abandoning plans for a 39‑day festival there, Saraceno was among the most enthusiastic supporters of the shift.

“It was never going to work,” he said.

He rattled off the reasons:

Accessibility: Getting people from New Jersey to Liberty State Park is difficult: “I’d never go,” he said, assuming many felt the same.

Attracting visitors: The plan relied on people to take a ferry from New York City: “No one in New York City is going to come to New Jersey to party,” he said.

Burdening NJ Transit: “Its focus should be on moving people efficiently to MetLife Stadium for the eight match days, not managing 39 days of festival traffic,” he said.

Programming: “No one has ever attempted to program Liberty State Park for 39 straight days for 40,000 people,” he said. “We have no playbook for that.”

But when it comes to MetLife Stadium?

“We’ve done it thousands of times and get better at it every year,” he said. “Let’s concentrate on that.”

Following the announcement, BINJE contacted major sponsors who had invested heavily in the event. Heavy promotion at the Fan Festival was part of their buy‑in. All but one said they supported the change and didn’t mind losing the Liberty State Park activation.

“For me, supporting the Host Committee was always about helping the state,” Saraceno said. “The Fan Festival wasn’t part of the equation.”

In fact, Saraceno said he viewed it as a distraction.

“I had to figure out how to program 39 days of activation there — for what?” he said.

The state’s decision to redirect dollars to smaller local events matches his original vision.

Onyx will open a World Cup‑themed bar/restaurant and viewing hub in the Jewel Box, the entertainment space in Gateway 1 across from Newark Penn Station. It will operate from May 1 to August 1. (The World Cup runs from June 11-July 19.)

“We’re going to host programming that brings different communities from across Newark and the state together,” he said. “Now I can feel good about doing it, because I’m not doing it at the expense of Fan Fest — I’m doing it for Newark, which is exactly what I wanted.”

Saraceno said he’s thrilled others will get the same chance.

“Letting regional pockets — the Meadowlands, Newark, Paterson, Metuchen, wherever — host events around particular games makes total sense,” he said. “Let places apply to the EDA for $5,000 or $25,000. People will appreciate being able to walk to something local rather than traveling in and out of Liberty State Park. It’s a 100% better idea.”

Saraceno gives Gov. Mikie Sherrill full credit.

“This was her first big challenge, and she showed enormous courage and leadership,” he said. “She could have let it be — and if it blew up, blamed the previous administration. But she showed real leadership instead.”

To him, Sherrill is treating this the way he did: as a chance for New Jersey to shine.

“I give Mikie a lot of credit for having the guts to do this,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do — and I applaud her for doing it.”