World Cup fans are booking late as semifinals lift US host cities
Travel demand is rising in U.S. World Cup host cities as fans chase late-round matches, with hotels, rentals and flights getting a fresh surge.
By Sal Moretti · Money Reporter
3 min read
The World Cup money rush is showing up at the business end of the tournament, with fans booking flights, hotels and short-term rentals as the semifinal field takes shape.
The late-round slate sent France against Spain in Dallas on Tuesday and England against Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday. As those matchups came into focus, travel bookings picked up in host cities, according to data cited by CNBC from Bank of America Institute, CoStar, AirDNA, RateGain Travel Technologies and Navan.
Bank of America Institute said every U.S. host city has benefited economically from soccer visitors. David Tinsley, a senior economist at the institute, said World Cup-linked spending became visible after the tournament began, with restaurants and bars among the stronger performers as fans gathered around matches.
Bank of America credit and debit card data showed in-person spending in U.S. host cities rose 5% from a year earlier between June 10 and July 5. Kansas City posted the largest increase in that analysis.
The institute noted that the figures capture only Bank of America card spending by U.S. households. They do not include cash, checks, international tourist spending or corporate card use, meaning the full effect could be larger.
Hotels get a knockout-stage lift
CoStar data showed Kansas City also led host markets in weekly hotel performance gains, with revenue per available room, known as RevPAR, rising nearly 50%. Philadelphia’s weekend RevPAR climbed more than 74% when a World Cup match overlapped with Fourth of July events and America 250 celebrations, according to CoStar.
That late boost came after hotel owners had worried about weak early bookings and FIFA returning blocks of rooms to the market before the tournament began, CNBC reported.
Occupancy was not uniformly strong. CoStar said hotel occupancy in U.S. host cities fell almost 3% from a year earlier during the final week of group-stage play, suggesting some business and leisure travelers changed plans. Even so, hotels in those cities charged rates 21% higher than a year earlier during the early phase of the tournament.
Once the knockout stage began, demand from June 28 to July 4 rose 2.4% from last year and RevPAR increased 23%, even though the World Cup had half as many matches as the prior week, according to CoStar.
Argentina fans move fast
AirDNA said short-term rental demand increased around the bigger late-stage games. Braham Gallagher, the company’s director of economic forecasting, said some travelers appeared to wait until they knew which teams would play before booking.
RateGain founder Bhanu Chopra said Argentina supporters were a clear example of real-time booking after wins. According to RateGain’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Market Pulse Index, flight bookings from Argentina have risen nearly 46% year over year since the tournament started.
Bookings from Argentina to Atlanta, where the team played a round-of-16 match and was set for its semifinal, climbed nearly 108% over that period, RateGain said. Overall bookings to World Cup host cities were up nearly 4% from last year, and flight reservations jumped nearly 75% from the prior week after the opening match.
Argentina-to-New York/New Jersey bookings for the final were still down about 15% year over year, while Argentina-to-Miami bookings for the third-place match were up nearly 17%, according to RateGain. Chopra said that pattern suggested some fans were keeping options open rather than assuming Argentina would reach the final.
AirDNA said short-term rentals for the final in Newark and Jersey City, New Jersey, were already 45% above last year. Gallagher linked that demand to interest in the tournament finale and New York City’s restrictions on short-term rentals.
Prices are climbing with the rush. Navan said the average New York City hotel rate was already above $1,800 a night before the tournament began. FIFA still had nearly 1,200 mid-tier final tickets available late last week at $7,380 each, CNBC reported.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.