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The report is conservative, according to the Bay Area Host Committee, but still says the events over a 17-month period will create or sustain nearly 13,000 jobs and lead to 400,000 bookings of accommodations.
FIFA World Cup, National Football League Super Bowl and the National Basketball Association’s All-Star Game will collectively funnel $1.4 billion into the region, create or sustain nearly 13,000 jobs and lead to the booking of some 400,000 accommodations as they fall on the Bay Area over a 17-month span in 2025-26, according to a report completed for the committee overseeing local planning for the events.
The study, developed by the Boston Consulting Group, is a conservative look at the impact of three of the sports world’s largest events on the Bay Area economy, said Zaileen Janmohamed, president and CEO of the Bay Area Host Committee. Yet the numbers surely will be adjusted and skeptically picked over as the events draw closer during the next two years.
“We have purposely been conservative in our numbers because we haven’t done the FIFA World Cup before and it’s the first time any city will do these three events back-to-back-to-back,” Janmohamed said. “We’re hoping to meet and exceed them.”
Here are the takeaways:
• NBA All-Star Game — Feb. 16, 2025, at Chase Center in San Francisco and events the preceding week at Oakland Arena and Chase Center: Bay Area Economic impact of $350 million, according to a report by the NBA and the Temple University Sports Industry Research Center
• Super Bowl LX — Feb. 8, 2026, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara and likely other events the week before in San Francisco and other Bay Area locations: $370 million-$630 million, including $250 million-$440 million for San Francisco County, $100 million-$160 million in Santa Clara County and $20 million-$30 million across all other Bay Area counties
• FIFA World Cup 2026 — June 13-25, 2026, for five group-stage matches at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, and a single round-of-32 match there July 1: $480 million-$630 million, including $270 million-$360 million in Santa Clara County, $140 million-$180 million for San Francisco County and $70 million-$90 million in all other Bay Area counties
The study is important as the nonprofit host committee — which Janmohamed views as a startup focused on the betterment of the Bay Area — approaches potential local sponsors and tries to convey to local governments what the events mean to their residents and their budgets. It also is key to seeing the events’ legacy effects, including youth sports programs, Janmohamed said.
“We don’t share in the profits, the revenue, the merchandise or the ticket sales,” she said. “One of the only reasons to do what we do is to make sure the region benefits.”
The report helps local governments see what happens when a half-million sports fans flood the Bay Area at points during a 17-month period, Janmohamed said, and gives them time to prepare.
Studies like this one come with caveats and skepticism. People involved with the study say it doesn’t include spending by local residents that would occur without the events, but it takes into account local residents who flee the region during mega-events, including those who may rent out their homes during events through platforms like Airbnb, for example, and for visitors who stay with Bay Area family and friends.
Large-scale sporting events, particularly the Super Bowl or World Cup matches, are potential tools to increase foreign tourism in the United States, the U.S. Department of Commerce said in a June 22 report that set a goal of boosting foreign visits from 51 million in 2022 to 90 million by 2027. The World Cup matches, in particular, are expected to draw fans from the countries whose teams are playing at Levi’s Stadium.
Visitors from other nations, especially from China, are an important part of Bay Area tourism officials’ post-Covid pandemic recovery plans.
Roger Noll, an emeritus professor of economics at Stanford University known for his sports economics work, said studies often look at the boost big-time sports events provide in receipts but not the costs for additional police protection and more intangible effects like congestion, pollution and infectious disease on a crowded Bay Area.
Noll, who hadn’t seen the report, said in an email that the study likely will be accurate in estimating spending by visitors and a certain “multiplier effect,” how visitor spending will lead to more spending by local businesses. That multiplier, Noll said in an email, could be exaggerated by a restaurant that needs more potatoes but may buy those from beyond the Bay Area, for example, or by inflated hotel room rates boosting profits that will “leak” to corporate headquarters.
“Most likely, Hilton and Marriott do not care much where the events are held — they will benefit regardless because they own hotels in all places that could stage the events,” Noll said.
The numbers will continue to change, Janmohamed said, as the Bay Area Host Committee continues to work with the NBA, NFL and FIFA organizers and assembles its own roster of events, such as hyper-local “watch parties.”
“We don’t know yet which municipalities and cities will opt in,” Janmohamed said. “This allows some flexibility if more opt in and we see a greater impact in different counties.”
Estimated number of total hotel room nights
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