The 2026 World Cup Final is coming to MetLife Stadium, along with seven other games of the planet’s biggest soccer spectacle.
But despite breathless estimations of the economic impact, don’t expect a windfall for the city in general or even the Meadowlands itself.
“The history we’ll be making in 2026 will create lifetime memories for fans, provide new opportunities for our communities, infuse billions into our economy,” Mayor Eric Adams said.
But the biggest winners are likely to be the fans who get to see it, and soccer that gets to build on it.
Adams predicted over a million tourists will come for the event, and bring roughly $2 billion in revenue to the city. He added the World Cup should bring roughly 14,000 jobs to the region.
But many are temp positions, and New York is already expecting 64.5 million visitors this year.
“If you add up everything it’s going to be about as big as a Taylor Swift concert,” Dr. Mark Rosentraub, a specialist on sports business and urban planning, told The Post.
“This is at the height of the tourist season, whether you have the game or you don’t, you’re going to have a lot of tourists. If you have the game, they’re going to supplant some who aren’t going to come because they’re afraid of the higher prices. … You say we’re going to charge higher prices: But how much higher? Add that up, put that up against the economy of the [area] we’re looking at a small gain but hard to detect.”
Stateside soccer stands to benefit, with MLS an outgrowth of the 1994 World Cup.
And FIFA stands to make a windfall keeping the ticket and sponsorship, leaving the hosts with security costs and other expenses.
“They’re getting New York; that’s gonna be a great benefit. And if MetLife can figure out how to make it work so much the [better],” Rosentraub said. “This is going to be just a fun, great weekend of experiences in New York. There’s nothing bad about this. … [But] it is just a blip on the radar. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a good thing: It’s a great thing.”
There are costs involved akin to a Super Bowl. Some host cities have $100 million in expenses, and New York likely will be.
In the 2014 Super Bowl, they fundraised $70 million-$90 million. So now the NYNJ World Cup Host Committee turns to that task.
“It’s big prestige. I don’t know that it’s a huge moneymaker for the stadium because it costs a lot to live up to the requirements FIFA puts in front of you in order to be that host,” Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce president James Kirkos told The Post.
“There’s a lot of money that needs to be spent in order to produce the events for FIFA. That’s one of the jobs of the host committee now. It’ll gear up, start to raise the money. Just like the Super Bowl, the host committee has to raise $40 million or more. So now that’s their task now to do that.”