Was World Cup a boon or bust for New York, USA? It’s complicated…
Sunday at MetLife Stadium, Spain or Argentina will win the World Cup final.
But who’re the monetary winners? Will or not it’s a boon or bust for New York?
It’s complicated.
With only one game left, sports activities economists say it’s unlikely the U.S. will take pleasure in the enormous financial growth promised. At least indirectly.
As a host, New York noticed uneven positive aspects. But there have been immense company earnings, with FIFA the greatest beneficiary.
The common ticket worth for the final is the highest ever in the U.S. at $11,327 per TickPick. For perspective, Super Bowl LVIII in 2024 (Chiefs-49ers) had been the mark at $9,411, with Knicks-Spurs Game 3 the highest non-Super Bowl at $6,308.
Argentina-Spain will dwarf that.
But FIFA monetizes the event globally, with host cities and public entities compelled to shoulder most of the monetary danger. Local companies like bars, motels and eating places received a short-term increase, however that ends after Sunday.
“Yeah, FIFA is a profit-maximizing organization. They’re all over it, no question about it. And that’s their right; they didn’t force us to host the games. We wanted to,” Dr. Mark Rosentraub — director of Michigan’s Center for Sports Venues & Real Estate Development — told The Post.
“In the absence of the World Cup, [New York] could get a huge number of visitors; and some visitors who were planning to come aren’t going to come during the World Cup because the prices are higher and it’ll be more crowds. So what we’re doing is replacing some oranges with bananas.”
New York motels run over 90 % occupancy in the summer season, and Dr. Rosentraub opined that may hit 96 or 97 % for the World Cup.
Norway followers cheer on their team outdoors Times Square ahead of the team’s 2-1 wi over Brazil in a Round of 16 World Cup match on July 3, 2026. Anadolu by way of Getty Images
“But there’s a lot of substitution going on because we get a lot of tourists,” Rosentraub said. “This weekend in New York, there’s going to be thousands of Argentines, [but] I don’t know how many from Argentina there’ll be. We have people partying in Manhattan; it’ll be spectacular. But if they hadn’t played here, it would also be jammed this weekend in Times Square.”
Consumer spending is up; however prices for infrastructure, safety and transportation had been handed right down to taxpayers.
“It’s big prestige,” Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce president James Kirkos had told The Post. “I don’t know that it’s a huge moneymaker for the stadium because it costs a lot to live up to the requirements FIFA puts in front of you in order to be that host.”
Sweden followers look on before their team’s Round of 32 loss to France on June 30, 2026 at MetLife Stadium. Anadolu by way of Getty Images
Bars crammed up, with the Scots famously ingesting Boston dry. But domestically they’ve changed common vacationers, holding earnings muted.
Price gouging in some cities backfired with l charges of 500 % above common forcing motels to slash costs. Lackluster bookings led the Hotel Association of New York City to halve its income expectations from $200 million to $100 million.
“They have to say what they have to say,” Dr. Rosentraub said. “The [profit] just isn’t going to be what FIFA is telling you. But it’s all good. There’s nothing unhealthy right here. And what social media has executed for the United States in the last month, that’s virtually irreplaceable.
Every match of the FIFA World Cup will air on both FOX or FOX Sports 1. If you don’t have cable, you’ll be able to benefit from a DIRECTV free trial to stream all of it.
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“They won, we won. And that social impact of people talking about how great it was to be in America, that is invaluable. We could not have bought that if we wanted. That is [as big as] anything that we could imagine. … Anybody who minimizes that is really ignoring the real value of hosting the games.”
If there’s a worth, that could also be it.
It might just be someplace down the line.
“We said from the beginning that the World Cup belongs to New Yorkers. This summer, we proved it,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said. “This summer season, strangers grew to become neighbors on Open Streets and in free fan fests across the metropolis because authorities made room for people to return together.
“And long after the confetti is swept away, New Yorkers will keep what we built: safer streets, faster buses, stronger protections, closer neighbors and the memory of a summer when the whole world felt at home here.”
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