经济周刊：世界杯与股市

William Blair The 2026 FIFA World Cup will kick off in just a fewweeks, and for the first time it will be hosted by threenations—the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Argu-ably the world’s premier sporting event, the World Cuphas expanded to feature 48 teams, lifting the schedule to arecord 104 games. The matches will be played in 16 citiesacross the three countries, opening in Mexico City on June will collect broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing, andhospitality revenues, while cities bear the costs forstadium retrofits, security, transportation, and publicviewing events for those without tickets. Gains for hostcities will vary, hinging on local cost burdens and how farvisitor numbers rise above typical tourism flows. FIFAprojects roughly $8.9 billion in revenue this year, versus FIFA President Gianni Infantino has described the WorldCup as “the greatest event that humanity, mankind, hasever seen.” And he is often heard saying that football (soc- The 2026 tournament will test those claims at scale. Forthe first time, it will be jointly hosted by three countriesacross 16 cities, including 11 in the U.S.—Atlanta, Boston,Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New The first and last time the United States hosted the WorldCup was in 1994, when 3.6 million people attended gamesin nine cities (exhibit 1). This remains the largest atten-dance in FIFA history (despite expansion of the compe-tition), but with football far more popular today, FIFA Following the pandemic lows, spending on live entertain-ment has continued to strengthen. BEA data show realpersonal consumption expenditures on tickets to specta-tor sports, movie theaters, and other live entertainmentare up about 23.1% relative to 2019; breaking that downfurther, consumer spending on spectator sports increased FIFA’s pitch to host cities was that this expected demandfor tickets would translate into a surge in tourism andlocal spending. Unlike 1994, however, when FIFA workedthrough a national organizing committee, each host city is William Blair dynamics, the strength in spectator sports spendingpoints to a firm demand backdrop heading into the 2026 The most extreme price increases are concentratedaround the final match, as expected. Dynamic pricing andFIFA’s staggered ticket release strategy appear to be driv-ing these increases; however, even at the initial Octobersales phase, this was already the most expensive final in The 1994 World Cup hosted 24 teams with 52 matchesentirely within the U.S. This was half as many games asthere will be in 2026, which will now be played in threecountries. In February, Infantino claimed FIFA received“requests for over 500 million tickets—508 million, tobe precise—for around 7 million tickets that we have onsale.” However, in the lead-up to the opening matches in Fortunately, FIFA has begun lowering prices whereinterest is weaker, and secondary market prices are alsotrending lower. According to Ticketdata.com, the cheap-est ticket for 62 of the 72 group-stage matches (excluding For the first game in the United States, the U.S. will playParaguay in a rematch of a November 2025 friendly gamethat it won 2–1. At the start of ticket sales in October, thiswas the third-most expensive game of the entire tourna-ment, sandwiched between the two semifinals, with thefinal match at the top.This is the first time that FIFA isusing dynamic pricing, and over the past seven monthsthe match at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles has been oneof the few for which prices have not been raised, likely Demand remains strong, so the fact that most World Cupgames have yet to sell out is not a concern. The worry isthat elevated prices are likely to weigh on out-of-stadium The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, held across 12 U.S. venuesfrom mid-June to mid-July, offered an early read on howa major football tournament lifts local spending. Bank ofAmerica card data show brick-and-mortar spending instadium zip codes rose about 7% year-over-year duringthe tournament, peaking above 10% at several points,while nearby areas saw little spillover. The gains centered William Blair Cities that do not usually draw large international crowdsstand to gain the most. In tourism hubs like New York andMiami, World Cup visitors are more likely to crowd out For fans who make the trip, worries extend beyond theborder. Elevated ticket prices, a strong dollar, and higherairfares and fuel costs leave the U.S. pricier than past Host cities hope that spending materializes, because thecosts to host are steep. Hosting matches is expected torun $100 million to $200 million per city, depending onthe number of games played and expenditure on trans-portation, infrastructure, and security. Some relief comesfrom Washington; the One Big Beautiful Bill Act approved$625 million to reimburse local law enforcement via a Still, the bar FIFA has to clear to fulfill its pitch to host cit-ies is relatively low. According to the International TradeAdministration, 68.3 million