World Cup 2026 hailed as economic success for New York

NEW JERSEY – The World Cup final between Spain and Argentina in New Jersey on July 19 wraps up a tournament that shattered attendance records and has been hailed as a major economic victory for the region. 

US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will be among the dignitaries in attendance along with 80,000 spectators for the clash of football titans at MetLife Stadium.

Another 50,000 fans have tickets to a free watch party on Central Park’s Great Lawn, and New York City has organised more than 100 free screenings across its five boroughs. FIFA is also introducing a star-studded closing ceremony alongside a first-of-its-kind half-time show for the final, featuring Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber and BTS.

The festivities will help wrap up what is being hailed as a major success for FIFA and host nations US, Canada and Mexico, overcoming earlier concerns about sky-high ticket prices and potential strains on public transit systems. And while smoke from Canadian wildfires caused significant air pollution in the region in recent days, conditions are expected to improve by July 20.

Before the final has even been played, the New York-New Jersey host committee is already pointing to a substantial return. A host-committee study estimates that the group-stage period alone produced US$1.2 billion (S$1.55 billion) in direct economic impact, NYNJ host committee chief executive officer Alex Lasry told Bloomberg.

For Gonzalo Perez, an Argentinian living in Panama who attended his first World Cup in Argentina in 1978 and has travelled to later tournaments, the size and spectacle have distinguished this event from the previous tournaments.

“I think the US has the best of show business, which you don’t find in other countries, actually,” he said.

From buses to burgers, the World Cup has churned out money at unprecedented rates. More than 400,000 people attended five consecutive sold-out group matches at MetLife, according to the host committee. Its official US$20 NYNJ stadium shuttle sold 69,179 tickets during that period, bringing in US$1.4 million.

The opening local match between Brazil and Morocco also generated the stadium’s highest food-and-beverage revenue for any event since the 2014 Super Bowl, Lasry said.

“The US is equipped and are experts at putting on big events,” he added.

FIFA has even begun selling pieces of the MetLife Stadium pitch. Starting at US$450, the tournament’s online store informed customers that sections of the turf, preserved in resin, will begin shipping once the championship concludes. For US$3,000, you also get a small, crystal-cut glass World Cup trophy.

The move didn’t go down well with local politicians, however: “FIFA needs to get off our turf, literally,” said New Jersey State Representative Michael Inganamort on July 17, according to WRNJ Radio.

Although tickets for this year’s matches have remained some of the most expensive ever for a sporting event, prices have fallen in recent days. Since July 8, the lowest asking price for the final has fallen by 33 per cent while available inventory has risen by 65 per cent, according to Alex Bird, a blog editor at Ticket-Compare.com, which aggregates prices from football resale markets. More than 7,000 tickets were listed as the final approached.

Yet the cheapest available seats remained between roughly US$5,000 and US$7,500 and the average price was around US$12,500, according to data from SeatGeek. That compares with recent years’ average resale price for a Super Bowl ticket ranging between US$6,000 and US$10,000. 

And while fans are spending money, they haven’t traveled en masse to the games and there has been no dramatic jump in hiring by local businesses. CoStar data reported during the tournament showed New York hotel occupancy rising by 3 per cent from a year earlier for the Brazil-Morocco opener, before slipping slightly below prior-year levels on the next several local match days. 

Average daily room rates and revenue per available room, however, increased by almost 30 per cent on average on match days held at MetLife Stadium.

At Fanatics Fest, a sports and gaming festival held over the past few days in New York, Fanatics Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael Rubin argued that the World Cup has not simply sold tickets and shirts, but helped move the sport’s position in the American market.

“The excitement over the last 30-something days has been nothing short of extraordinary,” Rubin said. “It’s been a lift for soccer that will be here permanently. This was massive for global football in America.”

It’s unclear how much the World Cup will really help get more fans to Major League Soccer games, though there were some reports of a rise in sale of merchandise and a surge in recreational league signups in New York City. At a FIFA reception on July 17 in New York, Trump expressed surprise over the impact of the World Cup on the US.

“I said, ‘Are you crazy? We’re not a soccer country,’” he said about hosting the tournament. “It turned out we were a soccer country.” BLOOMBERG