NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit lost $4 million moving hundreds of thousands of soccer fans to the World Cup this summer.

And officials are calling that a victory.

The agency spent roughly $55.6 million transporting more than 370,000 people to eight matches at MetLife Stadium, but brought in only $51.6 million, according to an Aug. 24 memo obtained by the Bergen Record.

That works out to 93% cost recovery, meaning NJ Transit lost about 7 cents for every dollar it spent.

For an agency accustomed to taking a much bigger hit on MetLife events, that's apparently cause for celebration.

“Normally, NJ Transit loses 85 cents of each dollar spent to provide service to MetLife events,” CEO Kris Kolluri said. “Our losses were capped at 7 cents on the dollar, which is, by the way, unheard of.”

The agency had originally budgeted $62.4 million to handle the eight matches, assuming roughly 40,000 fans would use transit for each game.

Actual spending came in nearly $7 million below budget.

Labor cost $15.8 million instead of $20 million. Parts came in at $8.7 million versus $12.74 million.

Security was the big exception, jumping from a projected $10.5 million to $13.8 million. NJ Transit purchased drones after receiving Secret Service approval to use them during tournament days, Kolluri said.

The biggest miss was ticket revenue.

NJ Transit expected to collect $31.3 million but brought in only $16.7 million. The agency had priced round-trip World Cup tickets at $98 after initially proposing a staggering $150, far above the usual $12.90 fare.

Officials had expected match trains to sell out. Instead, each game averaged roughly 23,000 NJ Transit tickets.

FIFA's decision to make substantially more parking available at the American Dream mall and MetLife Stadium also changed how fans got to the games.

Still, the agency argues taxpayers dodged the much larger bill that could have resulted.

Federal security grants brought in $13.2 million, congressional funding added another $5.1 million and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority kicked in $4.1 million for 85 buses.

Advertising and sponsorships generated nearly $11.8 million.

The $4 million shortfall will ultimately be covered through the sale or lease of NJ Transit real estate before the end of the fiscal year.

And the agency says the World Cup provided a valuable dress rehearsal for future MetLife events.

Among the lessons: make sure everyone has a wristband, adjust bus and train service based on actual demand and remember that the Meadowlands remains, first and foremost, car country.

“MetLife and American Dream will always be car-centric,” Kolluri said. “There’s a natural cap of 20,000 plus or minus 3,000 people in a service — even for a special event.”