Visit Seattle Announces Preliminary $929 Million Economic Impact Projection for 2026 FIFA World Cup

Visit Seattle projects a minimum of $929 million will be generated for King County over the six FIFA 2026 World Cup matches set to take place at Lumen Field between June and July of 2026, including a U.S. men’s national team game in the group stage.

This projection, released Tuesday, includes more than $100 million in direct state and local tax revenue. Visit Seattle contracted Tourism Economics, a group within Oxford Economics, to do the preliminary study and plans to release an updated projection after teams and their respective host destinations are announced in December 2025.

“The Visit Seattle team and our local partners worked tirelessly for five years before our city was selected as a World Cup host destination in 2022,” said Kelly Saling, senior vice president and chief sales officer at Visit Seattle. “All of this was done with the understanding that an event of this caliber will be a massive economic driver for Seattle. Direct spending from these soccer fans will uplift our hospitality and service industries, while associated tax revenues will bolster our community, leaving a legacy that will endure long after the tournament ends.”

The study also anticipates 20,762 full-time and part-time jobs will be supported. SeattleFWC26, the local organizing committee, has been working to support neighborhoods around Lumen Field and build to the 2026 event.

“We’re committed to spreading the nearly billion-dollar economic boost from FIFA World Cup 26 to uplift local businesses and workers,” said April Putney, chief strategy officer for SeattleFWC26.  “Seattle is the first U.S. Host City to partner with local unions to guarantee the Seattle Fan Celebration benefits local workers. The scale of this economic benefit is unprecedented locally and we’re excited that more small businesses, restaurants, entrepreneurs, neighborhoods will be able to share in the prosperity.”

During this tournament, hotel properties and  facilities across the Pacific Northwest will be utilized. Spokane is a potential base camp for the World Cup and before the 2026 event, Seattle will host six group-stage matches during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup including three matches with the hometown Sounders of Major League Soccer.

“We are taking this opportunity to showcase Seattle’s capability and creativity when hosting these marquee sporting events while also wowing visitors to encourage return visits,” Saling said. “We’ve seen tremendous improvements to our city in the form of our waterfront redevelopment, increased hotel inventory, transit expansion and the opening of SEA Airport’s International Arrivals Facility. We’ve accomplished a great deal already and there’s still more to come.”