Hotel owners had prepared themselves for months for what they thought would be the most successful tourism season in many years, and had hiked prices, hired more staff, stocked up on supplies, and made room for an influx of international supporters, who were all coming for the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
Now, with kickoff just weeks away, a lot of those rooms are still empty.
Bookings across the U.S. host cities are coming in well below what was forecast. The American Hotel & Lodging Association surveyed more than 200 hotel operators in the 11 American venues hosting matches. Nearly 80% of them said reservations are falling short of initial projections.
A tweet from X.
FIFA has been touting strong ticket sales more than 5 million sold and early economic forecasts promised a massive windfall for local economies. But on the ground, hoteliers are singing a different tune.
“Many properties are calling this a non-event compared to a typical summer,” one AHLA summary noted. Kansas City has been hit especially hard, with 85-90% of local hotel operators reporting bookings lagging behind even normal June and July levels. Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, and San Francisco are seeing similar softness.
A big part of the problem traces back to how FIFA handled its room blocks. The organization initially locked up huge chunks of hotel inventory for teams, sponsors, media, and officials. Then, in several cities including Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Seattle FIFA canceled or released as much as 70% of those rooms.
Hotel operators say this created an artificial sense of demand that drove up prices and expectations early on. When the blocks came back onto the market, it left hotels with too much supply and forced them to scramble with last-minute rate cuts and promotions.
FIFA calls the moves standard procedure.
“These were routine adjustments based on evolving planning needs, done in coordination with hotels and within agreed timelines,”
A spokesperson said.
The 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico will still deliver plenty of unforgettable moments on the field. But for hotel owners and host cities counting on a summer windfall, the big question now is whether a late surge in bookings can still rescue the season, or if the economic impact on the ground will end up falling well short of the hype.
