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Last year, FIFA president Gianni Infantino hailed the upcoming World Cup as the equivalent of \u201c104 Super Bowls,\u201d quantifying just how big the sport known as football worldwide is\u2014or, at least in comparison to America\u2019s football version. With the average Super Bowl getting 125.6 million views annually, Infantino expects the World Cup to attract the equivalent viewership of three Super Bowls a day for all 39 days of the competition. FIFA predicts games would touch six billion viewers globally, and expects the influx of travelers and tourism will help contribute to a projected $30.5 billion economic windfall for the three host countries of the U.S, Mexico and Canada.<\/p>\n
The U.S. hospitality industry, however, is skeptical of the event\u2019s money-making promises.<\/p>\n
Of more than 200 hotels surveyed across the 11 U.S. host cities, nearly 80% said hotel bookings are tracking below initial forecasts, a new report from the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) found. Though FIFA data shows more than five million tickets have already been booked for the event, \u201cindicators suggest the anticipated economic lift may fall short of expectations,\u201d the report said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Most respondents noted trouble with overseas visitors obtaining visas, in addition to other geopolitical challenges, as the primary factors slowing down travel demand. Other U.S. hotels said FIFA created \u201can artificial early demand signal\u201d with an overcommitment to hotel blocks. In March, FIFA exercised an opt-out clause in its contract and cancelled thousands of hotel rooms in all 16 of the World Cup host cities, including Philadelphia and Dallas, to accommodate shifting demand.<\/p>\n
According to a FIFA spokesperson, the organization\u2019s accommodations team worked closely with hotels to adjust room blocks, including on rates and room types.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll room releases were conducted in line with contractually agreed timelines with hotel partners\u2014a standard practice for an event of this scale,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement to Fortune. \u201cIn many cases, room releases were made ahead of established deadlines to further accommodate requests from hotels.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hotels surveyed\u2014in the cities of Kansas City, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Philadelphia, and Atlanta\u2014blamed low international demand, with some saying booking pace was trending below even typical summer expectations. The remaining five host cities are spread out between Canada and Mexico, comprised of Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey in Mexico and Toronto and Vancouver in Canada. This year is the first time since 2002 that a World Cup has been hosted by multiple countries, and may be among the most politically charged one yet following a year of high tensions after\u00a0the U.S. imposed tariffs globally, including on its co-bidders. All of this combined, the hotels say, makes the World Cup a little more than a blip on the map.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany respondents describe the tournament as a \u2018non-event\u2019 in these cities,\u201d the report said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unique challenges for the 2026 World Cup<\/p>\n
Total expenditures for the World Cup\u2014including from host cities, FIFA, investors, and tourists\u2014will likely top $13.9 billion, FIFA estimates. The U.S. alone is expected to spend more than $11 billion to host the event. However, analysts have cast doubt on FIFA\u2019s ability to deliver on its economic promises. An Oxford Economists report published last month predicted \u201csome GDP growth\u201d as a result of the games over the summer, but only temporary job gains in the leisure and hospitality sectors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just a few weeks away, the first match will kick off on June 11. The tournament\u00a0coincides with a period of tumultuous travel some warn could hamper attendance. People already have travel wariness thanks to the Iran war, now entering its second month, which led to a de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz and has left oil prices elevated above pre-war levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last month, Goldman Sachs warned Europe\u2019s jet fuel supplies could fall below its key 23-day shortage threshold\u2014though carriers including the Swiss International Air Lines say they have enough supply for flights through the end of June. Still, the average price of a transcontinental flight rose from $167 in late February to $414 in mid-March, according to a Deutsche Bank analysis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The costs of attending the World Cup stateside go beyond just airfare. Tickets for many of the matches top $1,000. And that\u2019s on the lower end: The World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19 costs nearly $33,000. NJ Transit, which originally had a round-trip ticket package from New York City to MetLife Stadium for $150, lowered it to $105 last week following public backlash over the massive price hike. On average, tickets from New York Penn Station to the stadium are typically $13 for the 45 minute train ride.<\/p>\n
The FIFA spokesperson said tickets have been released at various price categories, including a minimum of 1,000 tickets at $60 each for each match, including the final.<\/p>\n
Though Infantino said the steep ticket costs were a product of \u201cmarket rates\u201d in the U.S., where the entertainment economy is so developed, even President Donald Trump admitted the tickets were too expensive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t pay it either, to be honest,\u201d Trump told The New York Post last week.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s in addition to some soccer fans\u2019 decision to snub the U.S. during the World Cup. In January, 170,000 people in the Netherlands signed a petition calling on the Dutch national team to boycott the event following the Trump administration\u2019s threats to take over Greenland. The Dutch cabinet rejected the boycott.<\/p>\n
Lisa Delpy Neirotti, director of the Sport Management Program at the George Washington University, said while politics may be a factor to consider, soccer fans will be more swayed by ticket and travel prices than anything else.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe geopolitical issues are a very small piece of it,\u201d she told Fortune.<\/p>\n
Why global sporting events usually fall short<\/p>\n
Exorbitant costs and logistical barriers are certainly a drag for soccer fans looking to attend the\u00a0<\/p>\n
World Cup, Delpy Neirotti said, but international sporting events have a history of setting unrealistically high economic aspirations.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody wants to hear big numbers, right?\u201d she said. \u201cThat gets everybody excited. That gets everybody to buy in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of those unrealistic expectations may come from the events\u2019 propensity to spend beyond initial projections. A 2024 University of Oxford study found the previous three summer Olympic Games (prior to Paris\u2019 in 2024, where researchers did not collect data) exceeded budgets by 185% as a result of immense security requirements and infrastructure demands. The 1976 Olympic Summer Games in Montreal cost $1.5 billion more than its project\u2019s $124 million budget, and it took taxpayers about 30 years to pay off the 10-digit debt.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not the case for all international games. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar contributed nearly 1% of the country\u2019s GDP, though the event was more likely to attract out-of-country tourists given the country\u2019s smaller population. Its small size also meant a stronger concentration of venues, which made it easier for attendees to view multiple matches in one trip.<\/p>\n
Delpy Neirotti does not expect an economic disaster from this year\u2019s World Cup, but does warn that expectations should be tempered. There\u2019s a likelihood that as most tickets become available, more soccer fans will book last-minute trips to give the hospitality and tourism sector a boost.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does bring economic impact, but it may not bring the impact that the report said,\u201d Delpy Neirotti concluded. \u201cYou get all this hype, and then it kind of falls short. So then people are disappointed, but they still should be happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
#U.S #hotels #call #World #Cup #nonevent #bookings #falling #short #expectations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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