The 2026 FIFA World Cup's later stages are proving to be a big boost for the hotel industry across the 11 U.S. host cities this summer.
According to new figures from CoStar, "while holiday travel lifted hotel performance nationally, World Cup host markets continued to generate some of the hospitality industry's largest gains."
Cities like Kansas City and Philadelphia led the way as travelers flocked to host cities for the start of the knockout stage.
"World Cup markets posted a 23% increase in RevPAR despite hosting nearly 50% fewer matches than the previous week, highlighting the continued impact of the tournament as it moved into the knockout stage," said CoStar.
"ADR remained roughly 21% above last year's levels, but for the first time since the tournament began, hotel occupancy also contributed to performance. Occupancy increased 1.1 percentage points, supported by a 2.4% rise in hotel room demand. Through the first 17 days of the tournament, hotel occupancy in host markets had been down 1.3 percentage points year over year."
Aided by the Fourth of July holiday and the subsequent dip in business travel, "host markets entered the week with fewer headwinds than they had faced earlier in the tournament," according to CoStar.
Fireworks exploding in Penn's Landing at Philadelphia's Wawa Welcome America celebration. (Photo Credit: Visit Philadelphia)
Among the 11 host markets, Kansas City recorded the largest performance increase for both the week overall and on its individual match day, the data shows. RevPAR increased 49.9% as the Colombia-Ghana Round of 32 match on July 3 generated a 152% increase in RevPAR on match day.
Philadelphia ranked second, with its lone match—France versus Paraguay in the Round of 16—coinciding with Independence Day and America 250 festivities on July 4. The result was a 74.3% increase in weekend RevPAR.
CoStar previously forecast a 13% year-over-year increase in RevPAR for U.S. host cities during the World Cup. However, gains significantly exceeded projections, averaging well above 20% during the first two weeks of the tournament between June 11 and 27.
There are still four matches left to play in Dallas (Arlington, Texas), Atlanta, Miami and New York (East Rutherford, New Jersey) before the tournament concludes on Sunday, July 19, but it would appear the U.S. hotel industry is benefiting from the influx of sports fans better than originally thought.
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