What is happening?

The United States will host several major international sports events in the next few years, including two in Summer 2025.

First, the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. It is an international club soccer tournament that features four previous continental champions and highly ranked clubs. There will be 62 matches played at 12 different venues across the country between 6/14/2025 and 7/13/2025. Some of these clubs, especiall those from Europe such as Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Juventus, have a huge fanbase, both outside and inside the US.

Secondly, the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup. It is a biennial soccer championship of the North Central American and Caribbean region. Canada and the United States will co-host the tournament with 16 national teams at 14 venues between 6/14/2025 and 7/6/2025. 

Most importantly, the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It is a premier soccer championship featuring national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will be played between 6/11/2026 and 7/19/2026 in 16 host cities from Canada, the United States and Mexico. The previous tournament was hosted by Qatar and engaged 5 billion fans across all media with the Final between France and Argentina attracting 1.42 billion viewers. That is the type of attention that the World Cup commands.

Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics between 7/14/2028 and 7/30/2028. The 2024 Summer Olympic in Paris sold more than 9.5 million tickets over 19 days of competition. 

These events are expected to draw thousands of fans from all over the world, creating business opportunities for the host cities/states. Metro Atlanta Chamber estimates an economic impact of $503 million from the 2026 World Cup. Visit Seattle believes the competition will bring a $930 million boost to King County. The State of California expects to generate $594 million and $630 million in economic impact across Los Angeles and the Bay Area respectively.

While still the 4th most popular sport in the US, soccer is on the rise. A study by For Soccer shows that the number of people who have followed soccer for 5 years, as of September 2024, is up 57% year-over-year while the number of first-time fans is up 400%.

Opportunities

I see a huge tailwind for some businesses in the next few years.

First, the likes of Uber and Lyft. Thousands of people will attend games in the US. They’ll need transportation from and to stadiums as well as from and to airports. Many of them will also order food. Short-term top and bottom line will get a nice boost, but more importantly, these companies can acquire more drivers and users, strengthening their ecosystem for years to come.

Second, to meet the demand of an influx of passionate soccer fans, we can expect to see many mom-and-pop shops in the host cities. Such local businesses will need some help with basic infrastructure setup such as payment, hosting, order systems or inventory software. Companies such as Square, PayPal or Shopify can add more merchants to their ranks. More merchants mean more chances to attract end users and lift up everything.

Third, short-term rental providers, including Booking.com, Expedia or AirBnb, will greatly appreciate the upcoming soccer events. Obviously, domestic and international fans need a place to stay during the tournaments. The increase in demand will spur an increase in supply. To these platforms, it is a long-term benefit to get more hosts signed up. Since the tournaments take place in popular host cities for the next few years, new hosts that want to ride this wave will likely want to stick around. The longer they do, the less likely they will leave the platform once the tournaments end.

In addition, while I am unsure of long-term effects, a short-term boost to revenue is very likely for these companies:

Airlines such as United and Delta, which have a lot of flights between major cities in the US and Europe

Expect to see a lot of advertising from brands. The likes of Twitter, Facebook, Google or The Trade Desk, just to name a few, should receive significantly more advertising dollars

Payment networks like Visa, Mastercard and American Express will earn more revenue from a jump in transaction volume

Don’t forget sports betting sites such as BetMGM, FanDuel or DraftKings. The American Gaming Association estimated that 20.5 million Americans placed a bet during the 2022 World Cup. I fully expect a much bigger number for the 2026 edition.

As a football (soccer) fan, I am very excited about what is going to take place in the US in the foreseeable future. I am also thrilled about the investing opportunities that these events will bring about. If you can think of any other company that can benefit, please share in a comment. Last but not least, please be aware that this is not investment advice.