Visit Seattle Announces Preliminary $929 Million Economic Impact Projection for FIFA World Cup 26 Seattle™ 

Soccer fans from around the globe are expected to travel to Seattle in summer 2026 to enjoy six marquee matches 

SEATTLE – As Seattle continues its preparation to host what will be the largest iteration of the FIFA World Cup during the summer of 2026, Visit Seattle, the destination marketing organization for Seattle and King County, today released its initial economic impact projection for the tournament. 

Visit Seattle projects a minimum of $929 million will be generated for King County over the six World Cup matches set to take place at Seattle’s Lumen Field between June and July of 2026. This projection includes more than $100 million in direct state and local tax revenue and anticipates 20,762 full-time and part-time jobs will be supported. 

To generate these preliminary estimates, Visit Seattle contracted Tourism Economics, a group within Oxford Economics, which utilizes its understanding of traveler dynamics, quantitative methods, industry knowledge, and rigorous economics to create economic impact studies. In addition to this study, Visit Seattle 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, SVP & 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.” 

SeattleFWC26, the local organizing committee for FIFA World Cup 2026^TM, has been working intentionally to support neighborhoods around Lumen Field and build during 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.  “Our team is particularly focused on partnering with neighborhood business improvement areas to support small businesses in Pioneer Square, Chinatown-International District, and SODO. And 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, venues, and soccer facilities across the Pacific Northwest will be utilized for team basecamps and fan zone activations, thus increasing the overall economic impact for the region beyond this initial $929 million projection for King County. 

Saling added, “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. 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.” 

More About Visit Seattle
Visit Seattle has served as the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for Seattle and King County for more than 50 years. A 501(c)(6) organization, Visit Seattle enhances the economic prosperity of the region through global destination branding along with competitive programs and campaigns in leisure travel marketing, convention sales and overseas tourism development. Go to visitseattle.org.