Seattle is spending nearly $32 million to host six World Cup matches. Experts question how much money the city gets back.
SEATTLE — The World Cup is weeks away from arriving in Seattle, and the city is already paying the price to host it.
Seattle is spending nearly $32 million to prepare for six matches at Lumen Field this summer. The money covers public costs tied to security, transportation, cleanup, emergency planning and other city services needed to handle World Cup-sized crowds.
The tournament is expected to bring global attention and visitors to the city. But some experts say the key question is not just how much money comes into the region — it’s who actually gets that money, and how much comes back to taxpayers.
“Most estimates say it’s going to 100 to 200 million per city, just from the city’s perspective,” said Dr. Natalie Welch, program director of the Sports & Entertainment MBA at Seattle University.
Welch said host cities have to account for costs that go far beyond what happens inside the stadium, including police, fire, transportation, extra buses, extra trains and the basic public infrastructure around a major international event.
At the same time, FIFA’s 2026 budget shows the organization expects to bring in nearly $9 billion in revenue, including $3.9 billion from television rights, $3 billion from hospitality and ticket sales and $1.8 billion from marketing rights.
“FIFA gets all the sponsorship, they get all the revenue from the ticket sales,” Welch said. “The city, we don’t have that kind of a direct revenue stream.”
That is why Welch says big crowds do not automatically equal a big return for taxpayers.
Economic impact can include visitor spending at hotels, restaurants and other businesses. But Welch said that money does not necessarily return directly to the city government paying for public services.
“Even hotels and restaurants, right, that’s not necessarily going back to the city,” Welch said. “It’s going to Hilton.”
Welch said cities also have to consider opportunity cost: how regular business may be disrupted, whether local customers may avoid the area, and what public money could have funded instead.
“A lot of times those economic impact reports talk about all this money coming into the city,” Welch said. “But you also have to think about, like, it’s always an opportunity cost. What are you giving up?”
That could include regular customers staying away from downtown because of traffic, street closures or security zones. It could also include small businesses near the event footprint that may not benefit if normal operations are disrupted.
KING 5 has reached out to the Mayor’s Office, the city budget office and the Governor’s Office asking for the bottom-line number: after spending, reimbursements and tax revenue are all counted, how much money does Seattle and the state expect to get back? KING 5 is still waiting for their responses.
“I would want people at home to just ask questions of their local government and of their local leaders,” Welch said. “You’re saying all these things, but where is that benefit actually trickling down?”
The World Cup may put Seattle on a global stage. Welch said the public still deserves to know what that stage costs — and whether the return is worth it.
“Thirty, 40, 50 million dollars is a lot of money,” Welch said. “How maybe civically may that be used in a better way?”
To ensure diverse coverage and expert insight across a wide range of topics, our publication features contributions from multiple staff writers with varied areas of expertise.
