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Visit Seattle worked with a group within Oxford Economics to generate the estimate.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is still over a year away, but Seattle is already anticipating its economic impact.
On Tuesday, marketing organization Visit Seattle released a report indicating the World Cup will generate at least $929 million for King County over the six matches Lumen Field will host in the summer of 2026.
April Putney, chief strategy officer for SeattleFWC26, the organizing committee for Seattle’s World Cup bid, said at a Tuesday event downtown that the expectation right now is about 750,000 people will visit Seattle for the World Cup.
“Only half of these people will have tickets. The rest are here for vibes,” she said. “We want to make sure they know where they can go and what they can see, and why they’re going to want to come back again.”
Putney added SeattleFWC26 is working with neighborhoods surrounding Lumen Field, notably Pioneer Square and the Chinatown International District, in preparation for the World Cup. SeattleFWC26 also wants visitors to know about prominent events like the Fremont Solstice Parade, and the organization wants to develop virtual reality experiences, similar to Pokémon GO, that encourage visitors to explore different Seattle neighborhoods.
Visit Seattle estimates the World Cup will support over 20,700 jobs and generate over $100 million in state and local tax revenue. Kelly Saling, chief sales officer for Visit Seattle, said at the Tuesday event the organization projects the World Cup will generate over $650 million in direct spending.
The windfall is expected to eclipse that of other major recent events in Seattle. Downtown hotels collected a total of $13.25 million on the two nights Taylor Swift played in Seattle last summer. Hotels collected $5.4 million when Seattle hosted the MLB All-Star Game last summer.
Lumen Field holds over 68,000 fans and will host four group-stage matches and two knockout round matches for the 2026 World Cup, the quadrennial soccer tournament that runs from June 2026 to July. About 360,000 fans are expected to visit the stadium across all six matches, with thousands of seats to be blocked by cameras and other equipment needed for media coverage.
The World Cup is regarded as the single biggest sporting event in the world. Forty-eight teams will participate, with games spread across host cities in Mexico, Canada and the U.S. Team USA, Canada and Mexico get automatic bids as host nations. The 2022 World Cup final had almost 1.5 billion viewers, according to FIFA, the international soccer governing body. By comparison, this year’s Super Bowl drew 123.4 million viewers, according to the NFL.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and SeattleFWC26 in October announced the Seattle Center will serve as an official fan celebration hub for the 2026 World Cup. Seattle Center is expected to host up to 20,000 fans during matches. SeattleFWC26 plans to announce nine other hubs across Washington in the coming months.
Washington cities Renton and Spokane have been added to the list of potential base camps, where national teams will train and rest during the tournament’s group stage. FIFA plans to add new base camp candidates next year, and teams will pick their base camp cities after the final draw, anticipated for December 2025.
Lumen Field will also host matches for the 2025 Club World Cup, which is a precursor to the World Cup. It features 32 club or franchise teams, including the Seattle Sounders, rather than national teams.
Visit Seattle worked with Tourism Economics, part of Oxford Economics, to generate its estimates. Saling said the organization will produce another report after the December 2025 draw and one after the World Cup ends. She added that the impact could grow as more base camps and fan hubs are announced.
“This is King County-specific, and it will be even greater beyond that,” Saling said.
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