PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The economic impact that the 2026 FIFA World Cup is expected to have on Philadelphia is getting a second look now that the official match schedule has been released. Six matches at the Linc will draw droves of fans to the city, and officials think the region stands to make a lot more money than originally thought.
Being a FIFA World Cup host city is an expensive proposition, says Meg Kane. She’s the host city executive with Philadelphia Soccer 2026, the organization working to welcome FIFA to town. Philadelphia is one of 16 North American cities to host matches.
“I think all of the cities are looking at various costs north of 100 million,” Kane said. Those costs are incurred in a number of different ways.
“Safety and security measures, transportation mobility,” she said, “but also preparing the city. There are going to be efforts around preparation of the city to welcome these fans, and not just in Center City but certainly into our neighborhoods as well.”
But big payoffs are expected from those expenses. “It’s really about an investment for Philadelphia to be on the global stage,” she said.
Also, she said, a 2020 preliminary economic impact study shows Philly stands to make a lot more money than it will spend: “Our expectation from that initial was that this would be north of just about a half a billion dollars in economic impact to the region.”
Kane says that half-billion-dollar impact stretches into a number of different areas, including job creation, direct spending from tourists and residents, and food and beverage.
That preliminary report was not able to include a number of factors that will affect revenue, such as the Major League Baseball All-Star game also in Philly that summer, and a World Cup round-of-16 match happening on the country’s 250th birthday celebration on July 4.
Kane says her office is now working on recalculating those revenue figures.