World Cup lifts summer retail sales
The 2026 FIFA World Cup has provided a significant boost to the US retail and service industries this summer. From tourists’ fascination with American food to viral trips to Waffle House, the World Cup brought a much-needed surge in consumer activity. Host cities experienced a notable increase in foot traffic as millions of international and domestic fans visited stadiums and fan zones.
Restaurant and Bar Service
Bank of America transaction data shows that consumer spending was strong in June, likely driven by World Cup promotions and campaigns. Restaurant spend in host cities was up 6% year over year from June 10 to June 30, while it was up slightly more than 4% elsewhere. Total consumer discretionary transactions among households were up 6.3% year over year.
Sara Walsh, senior vice president of payments performance at Bank of America, noted that growth was particularly strong in food services. “Certain tourist-heavy cities have performed particularly well, with New York/New Jersey around the MetLife Stadium area as the highest performing in terms of growth for spend,” Walsh said. Bars and restaurants in the New York City area enjoyed some of the biggest increases in sales.
Retailers Benefit from International Tourists
Retailers like Walmart and Target reported early sales increases since the start of the tournament on June 11. Target has been tracking international shopping transactions across the 11 host cities and found that local excitement in match host cities had a substantial impact on sales. Stores in those markets sold 66% of Target’s total FIFA World Cup 2026 merchandise, while representing only about 25% of total Target locations.
Tourism in World Cup host cities has even helped increase traffic in some unexpected retailers, such as cannabis dispensaries, with soccer fans seeking local products.
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Standard Wellness, a vertically-integrated cannabis company, made preparations to welcome new consumers to legal cannabis markets. Tiana Arriaga, Standard Wellness’ vice president of product and marketing, said the company’s The Forest Dispensary started getting busy as visitors arrived in Kansas City for Arrowhead Stadium matches.
The World Cup has shown that major events can cause traffic ripples to local businesses, and retailers are taking notice. It has provided a much-needed boost to the US economy.
Consumer Spending Trends
Bank of America’s aggregated credit and debit card data shows overall in-person year-over-year spending rose over 6% in Boston, over 2% in Kansas City, and just under 2% in Los Angeles during the second week of July. Walsh said it’s likely that as more people became invested in the World Cup games and their favorite team, they increased their discretionary spending accordingly. This could mean anything from buying a jersey to organizing a friends-and-family gathering at a local bar.
Walsh noted that 17% of the increase in spend has come from international customers visiting host cities. The retail industry continues to benefit from the World Cup, and it’s clear that the tournament has provided a boost to the US economy.
