Northwest Asian Weekly
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By Jason Cruz
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Visit Seattle announced that King County will generate nearly one billion dollars in economic impact for the upcoming World Cup. To ensure communities like the Chinatown-International District (CID) share in this benefit, SeattleFWC26 acts as a liaison between neighborhoods including the CID and Little Saigon.
Visit Seattle’s estimate is based on a commissioned study from Tourism Economics, a group within Oxford Economics which provided the study. The projection of at least $929 million will be updated when the teams and their respective host destinations are announced next year. Seattle will host six World Cup soccer matches as part of a first ever three country host for the World Cup. Seattle’s Lumen Field, is one of 11 U.S. stadiums to host matches.
The projection includes more than $100 million in direct state and local tax revenue and anticipates 20,762 full-and-part-time jobs, according to a Visit Seattle news release.
The unveiling of the anticipated economic impact occurred at Visit Seattle’s annual Holiday Brunch held at the Sheraton in downtown Seattle on Dec. 10. Deputy Mayor Greg Wong spoke at the event.
Seattle Deputy Mayor Greg Wong speaking at Visit Seattle brunch
on Dec. 10, 2024, discussing 2026 FIFA World Cup. (Photo by Jason Cruz)
“We want this to be the biggest party the city has ever seen,” he remarked with enthusiasm. “Safety and security have to be number one on our mind,” said Wong. He has been in contact with organizers from the most recent Women’s World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand to inquire about best practices for the event.
“We are working closely with our neighborhoods to see that they are successful.” He noted the city is “making sure that they [visitors] see what Seattle is all about.” Wong was confident that the World Cup would provide a positive impact on the hospitality ecosystem and indicated that the city has allotted money in the budget for activities related to the World Cup.
Seattle FWC26, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the local organizing committee set up to work with FIFA, the city and other stakeholders.
“We’ve got enough time here where we will be able to have a discussion to really make sure that we can answer folks’ questions and get a sense of what they have an interest in,” said Legacy Officer Leo Flor. The organization is reaching out to local communities to hear their concerns, answer questions, and ensure that their voices are heard by decisionsmakers within the city, county as well as FIFA.
The organization has deployed a three-prong strategy in reaching out to the “Stadium neighborhoods” which include Pioneer Square, SODO, the CID and Little Saigon.
The first is reaching out to individual entities within the neighborhoods such as Uwajimaya, Chong Wa Benevolent Society, Hood Famous Bakery and the Wing Luke Museum in the CID.
The second involves community information sessions, and working with SCIDpda and CID Vision Group, to facilitate these meetings.
The third strategy will be surveys to gather feedback from the community about their experiences with large events.. The surveys, which have been translated for accessibility, also ask about neighborhood concerns and past event experiences. They have also filmed a segment explaining the process with help from SCIPDA, with subtitles in languages of the community.
“People want us to learn from the neighborhood’s experience with the Major League Baseball All-Star game.” It is top of the list on feedback. “How can we use the biggest sporting event to come to Seattle and prove a more community beneficial way to make lasting progress to things locally.”
The lessons learned from the July 2023 MLB All-Star Game at T-Mobile Field was the last big event in the area in which a large contingent of people converged. An Huynh of SCIPDA hopes that the FIFA World Cup messaging differs from that of the MLB All-Star activities. She recalls some negative messaging from the media with warnings about the vast amount of traffic in the area.
“There was messaging to stay away,” recalled Huynh. She believed this was a disservice to the businesses in the area that had increased staff and inventory for the crowds but due to traffic and crowd concerns were told to stay away. Huynh stated the same thing occurred a week later the same July when Taylor Swift concerts were held for two nights at Lumen Field.
Huynh noted that multiple businesses were at the first organizing session in conjunction with SeattleFWC26. She observed that the meeting was “very successful, the businesses [in attendance] were engaged and asked questions.”
“One question we get is what would you specifically do to take all the visitors and get them out into the communities,” said Flor. Initial suggestions include Seattle FWC26 highlighting local businesses on a phone app they are creating. Another approach is a community art walk called the “Unity Loop.” The purpose would be to educate visitors on places in the neighborhoods to visit.
In addition to the economic opportunities, concerns about sanitation, accessibility to bathrooms, and trash pickup were top of mind. Other questions include traffic issues such as street closures, knowledge of the teams that will be traveling to play in Seattle, security and how they will disseminate information.
Flor also added two other issues that jump out relating to neighborhood businesses. Parking for employees will be at a premium with so many fans anticipated to be in town for the World Cup. The organization wants to make sure employees for the small businesses are able to get there and be open. Additionally, the possibility of outdoor festivals for businesses to promote itself or whether the right thing to do is attempt to channel people to the existing store fronts.
“With still more than a year and a half to go, we would like to have more conversations,” said Flor of the multitude of questions that will need answers in the lead up to 2026.
FIFA has 16 host cities that they are working with in 2026.
“They come out and visit frequently and we are excited in making this an exciting event,” said Flor. “Most importantly we are interested in having a good relationship with the community.”
Notably the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup differs from the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Seattle FWC26 is not planning the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
Jason Cruz can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.
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