Dreams Of A World Cup Bonanza Turn Dark On Empty Hotel Rooms, High Transit Costs

By Greg David, The City

May 13, 2026

A month before the first World Cup soccer match takes place at Met Life Stadium across the Hudson River, only 25% of the available rooms in New York City hotels have been booked for the six weeks when matches will be held.

FIFA says demand is unprecedented and that every one of the 104 matches across the country will be sold out, even as it continues to release tickets as match days approach. Meanwhile, resale prices for every match are falling in a sign of weak demand.

The sky-high cost of actually getting to Met Life Stadium and rapidly rising air fares as a result of the Iran war are two more blows to the event’s prospects.

The result is that an economic boost that FIFA claimed would exceed $3 billion for the New York area is likely to fall well short, leaving the city to spend far more on managing the event than it will receive in tax revenue and economic activity.

“The branding effect of the World Cup was always overstated because New York and New Jersey already have a lot of visibility internationally,” said Danielle Zanzalari, assistant professor of economics at Rutgers. “Places like Cincinnati and Kansas City would benefit more from the international exposure.”

No one has a single explanation for the disappointing hotel bookings and weak demand. High prices are one factor. A seat purchased directly from FIFA for the first match on June 13 for the lower bowl — where the views of the field are the best — originally cost $640, when the teams that would be playing had yet to be announced.

In the last two weeks, resale prices for that match between two highly ranked teams, Brazil and Morocco, have fallen by 9%, according to TicketData.com, which tracks that market.

Tourists walk in and out of the Grand Central Hyatt hotel, May 11, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

Another complication is the unprecedented plan for the World Cup to hold matches in three countries — the United States, Mexico and Canada — which may be depressing visitors, says Julie Coker, CEO of New York City Tourism + Conventions.

“We can’t ignore the broader environment,” added Virginia Maloney, the chair of the City Council’s economic development committee, which has held hearings on the World Cup. The war with Iran has made international travelers nervous and the Trump administration has made it difficult for visitors from many countries to get visas.

Big events like the World Cup or the Olympics need to generate enough demand that they overcome the loss of tourists who avoid that city because of high prices or fears of overcrowding. But the biggest declines in occupancy compared with 2025 occur on the eight days of matches being held at Met Life, showing that tourists are especially avoiding New York on those days.

According to CoStar, which tracks hotel occupancy and room rates, only a third of New York City rooms are spoken for on June 13, 12 percentage points below the year ago. Even for the much-anticipated World Cup final on July 19, only 20% of rooms are taken.

Those vacancies will take a toll on the city budget, which is already in the grip of a $5.6 billion shortfall.

Earlier this spring, city Comptroller Mark Levine estimated that even if FIFA’s prediction that 1.2 million people would visit New York for the event came true, the additional tax revenue would be no more than $55 million, while the city is expected to spend $70 million in additional costs for the NYPD, emergency management, and small business support.

If the number of visitors falls short, the gap between added tax revenue and costs will widen.

Councilmember Maloney notes that legislation pending in Albany that would allow bars and restaurants to expand outdoor activities during the matches could help increase economic activity. She is also lobbying the Mandani administration to relax its ban on any permits for groups of 20 or more to use city parks during the six weeks, which was instituted to conserve police resources.

“Our neighborhood-level, community-run, often free programming that serves the people who live here has been shut out in the process,” she said in a letter to the mayor and police commissioner. “Give New Yorkers back their summer.”

A soccer field next to the Red Hook Recreation Center, March 5, 2021. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán/THE CITY

Some officials, like Coker, note that New York is actually doing better than other host cities in terms of rooms booked and she says the trend is improving. “In March, we were down 11 percentage points for those weeks compared to 2025. Now we are down only 6 percentage points,” she told THE CITY.

Hotels have begun to reduce rates. The bellwether Midtown Hilton on Sixth Avenue is currently asking $490 a night for its least expensive room for the four days before the first match on June 13, down from $533 a month ago. It is not sold out.

City Hall didn’t return a mesage seeking comment.

In the meantime, even those who purchased tickets are waiting for FIFA to send them the actual tickets – with their actual seat numbers — and, with no parking at Met Life and a rail ticket to Met Life from Penn Station costing $110 a person, wondering what they are in for and how much it will cost.

“My spouse is going to the June 16 match and he’s not even sure how to get there,” said Zanzalari, who lives in Summit, N.J., which is only 20 miles from the stadium.

This press release was produced by The City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.