NJ Transit lost nearly $4 million operating trains for the eight World Cup games at the Meadowlands this summer, despite charging riders a staggering $98 per round trip.

A report on the issued by the agency’s Chief Financial Officer Jacqueline Stamford on Monday said the agency lost $3.8 million to run the trains, but painted the loss as a relative win.

“NJ Transit was able to limit its financial risk and improve farebox recovery through appropriate ticket pricing and prudent budgeting practices, including strategic contingency planning,” Stamford wrote in the memo.

The financial loss was first reported by NorthJersey.com. NJ Transit officials went over the figures during a committee meeting on Friday.

The service was disruptive for many riders who weren’t going to the World Cup. For four hours before each match, the NJ Transit areas of Penn Station were reserved exclusively for people with game tickets. Everyone else was directed to take the PATH train and transfer in Newark.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill and NJ Transit CEO Kolluri had pledged publicly that New Jersey taxpayers would not subsidize transit for the most watched sporting event on the planet. NJ Transit initially set ticket prices for World Cup trains at $150, though that price was later lowered to $98 after more corporate donations came in. The agency also sold a $1.7 million sponsorship that temporarily renamed the Meadowlands Rail Line to the DoorDash Meadowlands Rail Line.

NJ Transit had projected World Cup service to cost roughly $62.5 million, according to the memo. The service ultimately cost about $55.7 million, and the agency took in about $51.7 million in revenue. The agency reserved up to 40,000 round trip train tickets to each game, but ridership peaked at 26,221 on June 16 for the game between France and Senegal.

Stamford’s memo said the agency lost about 7 cents for every dollar spent on the service. The memo notes NJ Transit typically loses about 85 cents on the dollar when serving events at MetLife Stadium, making the World Cup games a win by comparison.

Stamford said the deficit for the World Cup service will be covered by advertising revenue and real estate sales.

“As promised, NJ Transit will neither cut service nor seek additional funds from the legislature this fiscal year to cover the shortfall,” Stamford wrote in the memo.

At the NJ Transit committee meeting Friday, transit officials said that employees were required to work additional hours to staff the World Cup service.

NJ Transit has touted its World Cup performance, saying they handled the equivalent of eight Super Bowls worth of attendees over a 39-day period. The agency said it served more than 370,000 passengers for the matches.

The eight World Cup games at MetLife Stadium, including the tournament’s final match, were largely served by NJ Transit trains and the local host committee’s shuttle buses. Those shuttles ran four routes to the stadium – three from Midtown and one from Clifton. Shuttle bus tickets were sold for $20 round trip.

The host committee said its stadium shuttles carried a total of 116,224 people across the eight games, averaging 14,528 per match.

The stadium was largely inaccessible by car for World Cup games. The only parking available was at the neighboring American Dream Mall, and those spots were sold for up to $300 each.

Ramsey Khalifeh contributed reporting to this story.