Hosting FIFA 2026 World Cup in Seattle expected to be a regional effort
(The Center Square) – The City of Seattle will look for aid from other municipalities throughout the Pacific Northwest when it hosts FIFA World Cup matches in 2026.
The Seattle City Council is geared to pass an ordinance to authorize the transfer of all relevant host city obligations to the Seattle Local Organizing Committee on Aug. 8, following the bill’s passage out of the Seattle Governance, Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee meeting on Aug. 3.
This includes the committee being tasked with raising the necessary funds to cover operating costs of hosting world cup matches.
Seattle is expected to host four to six soccer matches during the FIFA World Cup. The tournament could bring in anywhere from 400,000 to 750,000 visitors, with each staying two to three days in the Seattle market. City officials anticipate 50-70% of attendees to travel to Seattle from a different country or are visiting the city for the first time.
The Local Organizing Committee said it would rely on other jurisdictions throughout the Pacific Northwest region due to the scale of the world cup. Cities spanning from Portland, OR to Bellingham, WA are expected to collaborate with the City of Seattle in providing the necessary amount of hotels and staffing requirements.
The FIFA World Cup draws roughly 4 billion viewers throughout the tournament. According to Maya Mendoza-Exstrom, the chief operating officer for the Seattle Sounders Football Club, even the least watched matches in the tournament draw more viewers than the National Football League’s Super Bowl.
“This world cup is several times [larger than] anything we’ve done before and one of the things that we’ll be doing throughout the next three years is making sure we’re working with all of our regional partners,” Seattle Deputy Mayor Greg Wong said in the Governance, Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee meeting. “There’s going to be a whole regional effort to put this [event] on.”
The private, nonprofit marketing organization, Visiting Seattle, previously said being a host city could generate between $90 million and $100 million in economic activity depending on the number of games played in Seattle.
The last time the U.S. hosted a World Cup was in 1994. U.S. Soccer claims that it was the most financially successful tournament in World Cup history, with a cumulative attendance of 3,587,538 and stadiums filled to approximately 96% capacity during the tournament.
