Officials tout economic benefits of 2026 World Cup coming to Seattle

(The Center Square) – It’s still some three years away, but local officials speaking at a Tuesday morning work session before the House Innovation, Community & Economic Development, & Veterans Committee couldn’t contain their excitement about the World Cup soccer tournament, the biggest sporting event in the world, coming to Seattle in 2026.

Last summer, Seattle was one of 11 U.S. cities chosen for a combined North American bid to host the 2026 Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, World Cup, including the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

“What we’re here to do really is not just to host some games in 2026,” Peter Tomozawa, CEO Seattle 2026 World Cup Organizing Committee, said. “This is an incredible opportunity for all of us to maximize what the World Cup can potentially do for our state.”

The former president of business operations for the Seattle Sounders FC soccer team compared the World Cup coming to Seattle to the 1962 World’s Fair that was a defining moment in the history of the Emerald City, giving it, among other things, its iconic Space Needle.

Part of the reason for that comparison is the sheer scale of the 2026 World Cup, which will be bigger than ever, Tomozawa said, expanding to 48 teams from 32, including a record 104 matches, making it the largest sports tournament of any kind held on the planet.

He pointed out the World Cup’s global reach of nearly 4 billion viewers dwarfs the number of people who watch the Super Bowl and even edges out the Olympics in terms of total viewers.

“It’s almost mind boggling,” Tomozawa said. “But that just tells you that we have that much more growth in this country, and that’s why they’re coming here to our continent.”

Maya Mendoza Exstrom, chief operating officer, delved into the statewide economic impact of World Cup soccer matches to be played at Seattle’s multipurpose Lumen Field.

“Conservative numbers are that if you have a stadium of 70,000 people like we do – and let’s assume its 60,000 people in attendance – that you are going to have 50% more that come to be part of the team and the entourage, right?” she asked rhetorically.

Exstrom continued, “So imagine 100,000 people for every match coming, you know, into market and out of market, match day minus one, match day minus two. If they’re following their team, there’s time off in between and so one our jobs is to make sure they don’t leave early and they go do other things while they’re here and then go the last possible minute to go follow their team to another city.”

Jon Snyder, senior policy advisor to Gov. Jay Inslee, used the National Football League’s Seattle Seahawks as a measure of the scope of World Cup contests to be played at Lumen Field.

“In general, we’re talking about five Seahawks playoff games in a row where half or more of the stadium will be coming from outside the country,” he said. “And we all know international visitors spend more, stay longer for these types of situations.”

No specific dollar figures in terms of the World Cup’s anticipated economic impact on Washington were brought up at the work session.

Last year, after it was announced that Seattle was selected as a host city for 2026 World Cup, Visit Seattle – a private, nonprofit marketing organization serving Seattle and King County – said being a host city could generate between $90 million and $100 million in economic activity depending on the number of games played in Seattle.

The U.S. last hosted a World Cup in 1994, in what is considered the most financially successful such tournament in World Cup history.