American Dream Mall Will Give Away World Cup Tickets on Black Friday

American Dream Mall will hand out two tickets to a 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage match at MetLife Stadium on Black Friday. The giveaway is part of its "Black Friday Dream Grab" event. Those tickets? Worth about $3,000.

The first 100 people who check in starting at 5 a.m. outside the JD Sports store will compete for the tickets. They'll play the mall's "Human Crane" game. Contestants get strapped into a harness, then lowered into a pit filled with prizes to grab what they can. The next 150 fans will try their luck at the "Spin-to-Win" game, where gift cards wait as rewards.

Other prizes include tickets to a New York Yankees game, a New York Red Bulls game, and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. The megamall in East Rutherford will also offer TV sets and gift cards for stores like Canada Goose and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Doors open at Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park at 6 a.m. on Nov. 28. Holiday shopping starts at 7 a.m. that day.

Free rides on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-themed Shellraiser roller coaster and free admission to the Paw Patrol Hero Academy will be offered. Free ice skating runs between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.

MetLife Stadium will host eight games during the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer, including the final. Tickets are expected to be hard to get and very expensive.

Adam Petrick, chief marketing director for the shopping center, said venues like the second largest mall in the country have to go past "transactional retail experiences." Shoppers are tightening their belts and looking to stretch their dollars.

"What we're trying to do is light up the center with events," Petrick said in a recent interview, according to NorthJersey.com.

Malls have relied on events to bring out the winter shopping crowd, said Charles Cristella, managing director for national retail at JLL. The longer shoppers stay at the facility, the more money they spend.