FIFA wants to sell you a $3K patch of grass from the World Cup final. NJ wants a cut.

New Jersey wants some of that green.

After the World Cup final is played on a natural-grass field at what FIFA has temporarily rebranded "New York New Jersey Stadium," the soccer association plans to cut up a roughly five-square-yard section of the pitch to sell to fans, as small, individually numbered souvenir cubes for anywhere from $450 to $3,000 a piece. The $3,000 version comes packaged with a gold-etched replica ticket and a crystal-cut glass trophy.

Whatever profit comes from the sales will ultimately amount a tiny fraction of the roughly $11 billion FIFA anticipates clearing for the tournament overall. But New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s office — which has been fighting with soccer’s international governing body over costs since before the first match was played — says the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority footed $13 million to get the pitch ready for the games, and deserves a cut.

"As the governor has said, New Jersey paid multiple millions for the total expense for the pitch at MetLife Stadium, so New Jersey taxpayers should share in any proceeds,” Sherrill spokesperson Maggie Garbarino said.

But the New York New Jersey World Cup Host Committee says money from the pitch sales is, in fact, headed back to the region, supporting the programs the committee sponsors. FIFA licenses its intellectual property for the sale, but the majority of the revenue will go to the committee’s general fund. The committee didn’t say exactly what the percentage split would be, though.

Natalie Hamilton, a spokesperson for the host committee, framed the deal as part of a broader success story.

."Investments, including the pitch, made by New Jersey, New York State, New York City, the federal government, and our partners have generated billions of dollars in economic impact, hundreds of millions of dollars in regional tax revenue, and permanent infrastructure improvements that will last well beyond the World Cup,” she said.

The governor's office hasn’t yet responded to a further message seeking comment about the host committee's expectation to profit from the sales.

The battle over the grass is just the latest front in a summer-long turf war. Soccer fans dealt with an originally proposed $150 round-trip NJ Transit fare to MetLife, eventually lowered to $98 after corporate donations.. When New Jersey pushed back on the transit costs earlier this year — saying FIFA should help fund them — FIFA released a statement expressing surprise at the governor's approach. The association noted language in its agreement with host cities, put into place well before Sherrill took office, called for fans to be able to access public or other planned transportation "at cost" to attend matches.

The real fight, ultimately, isn't the governor's office vs. the host committee, or even New Jersey vs. FIFA over pitch royalties. It's an ongoing sore point: FIFA doesn't share any of its tournament profits, full stop, with the countries or cities that host its games.

Richard Sheehan has spent years trying to pin down exactly how much money that policy is worth. A professor emeritus of finance at Notre Dame and the author of "Keeping Score: The Economics of Big-Time Sports," Sheehan reconstructs sports finances the way a forensic accountant would, filing public records requests with universities and municipalities that would rather not disclose the numbers.

FIFA projected around $3 billion in ticket revenue for this tournament. Sheehan went stadium by stadium, seating category by seating category, and came up with an estimate closer to $7.5 billion. A message to FIFA seeking comment on his analysis hasn’t yet been returned.

It wasn't always like this, Sheehan said. Revenue used to be split roughly evenly between FIFA and host cities, back when the U.S. hosted in 1994, and host committees kept the ticket and concession money. That changed with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when FIFA started pulling ticket revenue back for itself and pushing more of the cost onto host cities.

"They really don't share any revenue with host countries now,” Sheehan said. “FIFA keeps the broadcasting money, the merchandising, the licensing and the concessions. Cities are left to hope hotel stays and bar tabs make the math work out on their own.”

Sherill’s office said New Jersey has given $35 million to the host committee for local infrastructure and community initiatives, and budgeted a further $120 million for other World Cup-related costs. Chicago looked at those kinds of costs early on and passed, declining to bid as a host city at all.

Not everyone in Trenton sees red flags. State Sen. Raj Mukherji, who sits on the Budget and Appropriations Committee, said he sees a governor being a careful steward of the state's money even if FIFA hasn't been the easiest partner.

"Maybe we've been a better host than FIFA has been an organizational guest," Mukherji said. .

But he pointed to the economic impact and tax revenue New Jersey and New York have booked so far, and infrastructure upgrades that will outlast the tournament, as reasons to think the investment pencils out.

"The economic metrics show we are on track to meet or beat our more realistic sets of projections," Mukherji said, "and that means I would rather have been New Jersey and New York than Chicago."