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FIFA is running the 2026 tournament directly and keeping nearly all revenue while assigning security, transport, and fan-zone costs to the 11 U.S. host cities.
deccanchronicle.comU.S. cities hosting matches could face a collective shortfall of upwards of $250 million. Fortune reported that FIFA is operating the tournament itself and dealing directly with host cities rather than through national federations.
Under the new structure, FIFA controls all revenue from media rights, sponsorship, ticketing, hospitality, and merchandise. Host cities and states are assigned security, transportation, stadium retrofits, administration, and public fan zones. Gianni Infantino campaigned for the FIFA presidency in 2016 promising to quadruple FIFA’s income.
Dynamic pricing for 2026 World Cup tickets starts at a federation-only $60 and reaches $7,875 for a Category 1 seat at the final. Several 2026 World Cup matches are selling for many times the price of comparable seats at Qatar 2022. 2 million regional visitors materialized.
New York City is on track to spend roughly $70 million in added costs for NYPD, emergency management, and small-business support. 3 billion in regional economic impact and more than 26,000 jobs for the New York–New Jersey area. As of mid-March 2026, advance hotel reservations for New York’s World Cup weeks were tracking 2% below bookings for the same dates in 2025.
U.S. host markets reporting bookings below initial forecasts. FIFA reserved enormous room blocks and later released roughly half of that inventory back to the market.
The hotel workers’ union contract in New York expires June 30, 2026. Research from the University of Toronto found that 12 of the last 14 World Cups produced net economic losses for their host regions. FIFA told North American hosts they could sell local sponsorships but locked up market categories for its own partners, preventing deals such as with convenience-store chains.
U.S. host cities. New York City announced free fan zones in all five boroughs. Los Angeles and Toronto are charging fans for entry to fan zones.
New Jersey replaced the canceled New York–New Jersey festival at Liberty State Park with a network of community events across 21 counties, backstopped by $5 million in economic-development money. Staging a fan fest can cost about $1 million a day. Boston cut its fan festival to 16 days.
NJ Transit initially set the round-trip fare from Manhattan to MetLife Stadium at $150. NJ Transit said moving fans to and from MetLife Stadium would cost it $62 million, with outside grants covering only $14 million.
Governor Kathy Hochul slashed the Manhattan shuttle-bus fare from $80 to $20.
nypost.comSuper PACs tied to Anthropic and OpenAI have spent more than $37 million on congressional primaries this cycle. The groups have outspent candidates in some races and focused on candidates who back differing approaches to AI regulation.