SerpApi.Org
The 2026 FIFA World Cup pumped around $20 billion into the U.S. economy, according to Bank of America. Host cities saw solid local growth from the tournament, and the spending bump was the biggest consumer spending surge the country had seen in over four years.
BofA CEO Brian Moynihan said the tournament generated $40 billion in new economic activity overall, with half of that flowing to the U.S. He also noted the effects spread well beyond the stadiums themselves. The bank’s customer base of 70 million people, who collectively spend over $400 billion each month, has been spending about 5% to 6% more than they were a year ago.
Moynihan said, “Even when we look into host cities like Kansas City, we can see the growth rate in spending is faster than other cities.” He added, “So it’s having this on-the-ground economic impact, and that spending is going into what we call bricks-and-mortar, going to bars and restaurants and things like that, not necessarily only the people in the stadium.”
Reports Reveal Fans Spent $1.2 Billion In June
Government data revealed that retail and food services sales jumped 6.7% compared to a year earlier in June, marking the fifth month in a row of growth. Second-quarter sales were also up 6.4% from 2025, according to the Census Bureau. Bars and restaurants, which got the most traffic from World Cup visitors, saw sales climb 3.8% from the previous year.
Bank of America’s numbers showed airline and leisure spending shot up by double digits in June, while clothing sales rose 7% and general merchandise went up 5%.
The BofA report didn’t account for spending by international fans, so the actual economic boost was likely even bigger than those numbers suggest. The New York/New Jersey Host Committee reported that fans alone spent $1.2 billion in June, which added up to a total economic impact of $2.1 billion for the area. The host committee also said $228 million in tax revenue was generated during that period.
The impact showed up differently depending on where you looked geographically. Brick-and-mortar restaurant spending in host cities jumped up two percentage points during the opening weeks, while non-host cities basically stayed flat, according to the bank’s data. Lower-income consumers ended up being the main drivers of that spending boost.
Meanwhile, hotels made money by raising prices rather than just filling more rooms. Kansas City saw revenue per room jump about 90%, while San Francisco’s revenue per room climbed 55%, based on data from CoStar Group. Victor Matheson, a sports economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross, said, “In Kansas City, that’s going to dominate your markets quickly. You’re going to have likely bigger increases in hotel prices because you get capacity constrained a little quicker.”
Matheson said how much money each city ended up making also depended a lot on the luck of the draw and which teams and matches they got. Moreover, Matheson pointed out that while Boston got flooded with Scottish fans buying up the beer, a group stage game like Austria versus Algeria in Kansas City would have relied much more on local crowds.
Countries like Austria and Algeria typically don’t bring huge numbers of traveling fans to North America. Now officials are trying to make soccer a permanent thing. Boston handled the wave of international visitors pretty smoothly and is already looking at putting in a bid for the 2031 Women’s World Cup.
U.S. President Donald Trump has also suggested the U.S. could bid to host the tournament again down the road. The 2026 FIFA World Cup ran from June 11 through Sunday’s final, where Spain beat Argentina 1-0. The tournament was hosted jointly by 16 cities across three countries—the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
