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June 11, 2026 / 2:11 PM EDT
/ CBS News
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The 2026 World Cup, which kicks off today, will be held across three countries and 16 cities, making it the biggest sporting event ever and a commercial bonanza. The five-week soccer tournament is expected to engage around 6 billion people globally and draw 6.5 million fans to the games. A joint FIFA and World Trade Organization (WTO) study released last year projected that the competition would boost U.S. GDP by $17.2 billion and global GDP by $40.9 billion.The White House said last year the tournament could generate $30 billion for the U.S. economy. By comparison, the Super Bowl generates somewhere between a few hundred million and roughly $1 billion, according to estimates.Part of the economic boost will come from job creation. Hiring in May showed a significant jump in U.S. leisure and hospitality jobs that economists attributed in part to expected tourism from the World Cup.During the tournament, dollars will flow to host cities across the country, including Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area. In a recent study, SoFi, a digital financial services company, said each host city will see between $160 million and $620 million in incremental economic activity.International visitors are projected to spend more than $5,000 per person during their time in the U.S., according to the U.S. Travel Association. The World Cup, aside from being the world's largest sporting event, is also expected to be one of the largest gambling events of all time. H2 Gambling Capital, a betting and gaming consultancy, projects people will wager $60 billion on the tournament through legal sportsbooks, including $2.9 billion from the U.S.
