PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It’s officially 2026 — the year of the nation’s 250th anniversary, or semiquincentennial, and several highly anticipated sporting events in Philadelphia.
In addition to dozens of semiquincentennial events and celebrations, World Cup matches and the MLB All-Star Game will attract many to the city this summer.
Pennsylvania tourism leaders expect the economic impact to be great.
“You’re going to have so many folks coming in to commemorate the 250th, right? So when you add up all of these events over the course of the year, you are talking about an incremental 1 million to 2 million more,” said Pennsylvania Deputy Secretary of Tourism Anne Ryan.
And when those million-plus people descend on the city and state, “they’re going to be going to our coffee shops, our bars,” said Ryan.
“So they’re coming here and they’re spending money. And so we’re projecting for 2026 that the total economic impact of ’26 is going to be around $90 billion.”
Ryan said Pennsylvania has budgeted $40 million for 2026 events statewide, with another $10 million planned for the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh.
“It’s my job as the head of tourism to invite the world, and we’re going to,” she added. “We are advertising now in Brazil and France and the U.K. because those are the teams that are going to be playing here for the World Cup.”
Ryan said weekly meetings are held to plan event security, operations and logistics to make sure the events go off without a hitch.