Fans are trooping to Dallas-Fort Worth beginning this weekend for the nine 2026 FIFA World Cup matches to be played in Arlington over the next month. Just how many, and whether the economic impact they generate comes close to expectations, remains to be seen.
North Texas leaders have projected up to $2 billion in economic impact to the region, but FIFA subsequently exited some hotel block reservations as the matches drew closer. In a Friday spot check of Arlington hotels, it was still possible to book a room at the Loews Arlington Hotel for $646, up from $395 earlier in the week.
“I heard all the projections of nine Super Bowls associated with the nine matches in terms of the parallel economic impact,” Brent DeRaad, president and CEO of the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in an interview.
“Don’t know that it’s going to reach that, necessarily. We are anticipating June and July to be probably two of the best revenue months, though, in Arlington’s history. So there’s going to be a lot of upside from this.”
Mexico’s Raul Jimenez, left, jumps for the ball with South Africa’s Ime Okon during the World Cup Group A soccer match between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (Natacha Pisarenko | AP archives)
North America, as host, is certainly facing “headwinds,” DeRaad said. Matches will be played in 16 cities spanning the United States, Canada and Mexico, in venues stretching from Vancouver to Mexico City. In contrast, 2022 host Qatar saw all of its matches played within a short distance of one another.
“The impacts are going to be diffused just because of that,” DeRaad said.
The ongoing Iranian conflict, the resulting higher jet fuel prices and airfares, higher gasoline prices and FIFA’s introduction of airline-style supply-and-demand modeling to price World Cup tickets also will likely affect demand, DeRaad said.
“We’re seeing ticket prices that are considerably higher than what we’ve seen for previous FIFA World Cups,” he said.
In addition, hostilities brewing between the U.S. and foreign nations and requirements on international travel to the World Cup have led travel experts to project some fans might stay home.
The latest dustup occurred last week after the U.S. denied entry to a Somali football referee who landed at Miami and was scheduled to officiate World Cup matches.
International inbound travel is expected to grow 1.6% this year, rebounding from last year’s 2.4% decline and supported by increased travel related to the World Cup, the U.S. Travel Association said in May.
At the same time, the association said “inbound international visits remain exposed to potential further increases in visa fees, extended wait times for visa applications and renewals, and negative sentiment toward the United States in key source markets.”
Irving resident Abdul Khan joins a protest against ICE during the World Cup’s Netherlands vs Japan game June 14 at Dallas Stadium in Arlington. Khan is a member of Vecinos Unidos DFW, a local Chicana-founded initiative formed to address ICE. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
Local immigration protests
A small number of protesters against U.S. immigration policy rallied Sunday outside the stadium in Arlington ahead of North Texas’ opening match between the Netherlands and Japan. At a recent news conference in Dallas, a U.S. Secret Service official didn’t directly address a question on whether immigration authorities planned enforcement during the World Cup.
“The idea of making a fun environment for the fans is the whole approach,” said Christina Foley, the U.S. Secret Service agent in charge of the Dallas field office and the region’s federal World Cup coordinator.
“FIFA wants it to be a fantastic event for the fans from all over the world. If someone is here and (has) gone through the legal process to be here to see the games, there’s nothing … to be worried about when it comes to any additional expectation.”
Questions about immigration came up again when FIFA President Gianni Infantino held his World Cup opening news conference last week in Mexico City, just after the incident involving the Somali referee.
“It is unfortunate,” Infantino told reporters. “Maybe sometimes it’s good as well to chill, relax. We work on everything. We try to solve everything. Sometimes to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect of finding a solution.
“We need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces. We are a sports organization. We try to do our best with the means that we have.”
Infantino touted Iran’s appearance in the World Cup, the U.S. decision to lift a required $15,000 bond for fans of five African nations in the competition and what he called a “speedy” U.S. process for issuing visas.
“Of course there are challenges, of course it’s not easy,” Infantino said. “This is about people forgetting for a moment their realities and being able to focus on a match and on a team.”
Spectators fill the stands and cheer on the Czechia national team during their open practice June 6, 2026, at Texas Health Mansfield Stadium. The event drew soccer fans from across North Texas as Mansfield welcomed its World Cup-bound team. (Joseph Morgan | Fort Worth Report)
International fans stream into the region
Fans of Croatia’s national team are streaming into DFW ahead of the June 17 match against England in Arlington, Goran Krndija, a Fort Worth entrepreneur and one of the Croat organizers, told the Fort Worth Report.
The Croat community in North Texas numbers some 5,000 families, he said.
“I’ve had people from Australia, Canada, Croatia who are coming here,” said Krndija, who didn’t have a sense of how many are traveling to North Texas. FIFA doesn’t allow fan groups to block up tickets.
Inside the U.S., he’s heard from Croats who are coming from Chicago, New York, Florida and Ohio, he said. “There are three guys from Memphis who are biking from Memphis to watch the game.”
Many fans are booking hotels in Dallas, he said. But “once they find out it’s in Arlington,” some are booking in Fort Worth and Arlington to be closer to the game.
Japanese fans were already in town last week ahead of Sunday’s match vs. the Dutch. Princess Takamado and Japan’s ambassador to the U.S. were scheduled to attend Sunday’s game. They were also set to tour the Japanese Garden at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden on Monday before a dinner that night, Grant Ogata, president of the Japan America Society of DFW, told the Report.
Organizers are hosting eight children displaced by an earthquake in Japan.
Ogata said local organizers don’t have a clear sense of how many fans will show up in North Texas to follow the Japanese team.
“The challenge is the yen is so weak now, and the hotels and tickets to the game are pretty expensive,” said Ogata, who is hosting two friends from Japan who are going to the match.
The Japan Society’s DFW members number 300 individuals and more than 100 corporate, with members such as the North American units of Toyota, NEC and Fujitsu, he said.
Japanese companies employ 75,000-80,000 people in Texas,” he said.
Short-term rentals surge in North Texas around FIFA
There’s still plenty of room at the inn for football fans seeking a short-term rental. Here’s a snapshot from the AirDNA research firm.
Rental stays: Typical stays in the World Cup markets of Philadelphia and Kansas City are one to two nights. New York, Mexico City, Miami and Fort Lauderdale, four to five nights. “Texas markets are kind of in the middle, predominantly one to four nights,” Gallagher said.
Nights booked through late last week: 124,480, about 30,000 more than the same period last year.
Occupancy: 47%, 45% above the same time last year. “We haven’t seen a lot of markets fill up,” Bram Gallagher, AirDNA’s economics director, told the Report.
Rents: Average $221 per night for booked listings, $384 average for available listings. “The less expensive rentals got booked first,” he said. “I do expect the rents are going to continue to increase.”
Where the demand is: Three quarters in Dallas, remainder in the Fort Worth area, which includes Arlington.
Vacancy signs at short-term rentals
Visitor interest in shared rentals like Airbnb and VRBO is surging, an economist with AirDNA, a consulting firm with offices in Denver and Barcelona that analyzes the market for shared rental owners, developers and investors, told the Report.
Bookings are up 30.4% above the same time last year for the DFW market, Bram Gallagher, AirDNA’s director of economics and forecasting, said.
“DFW is one of the highest” performers of the 16 World Cup markets, he said. “You guys are slightly better than Miami, which is undeniably going to have a very successful World Cup.”
AirDNA’s platform scrapes the Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com and Expedia sites for its data and has analyzed trends around numerous major events including Super Bowls and Taylor Swift concerts, Gallagher said.
Of course, if you’d rather book a night at Loews and hang out at Texas Live! next door, the hotel has rooms available around all World Cup dates, according to the Report’s research.
Arlington expects strong performance, even if it doesn’t meet the original expectations, said DeRaad, the CVB CEO. In 2025, the summer months drew 1 million visitors to the city who spent $3.1 billion.
Of the 31 World Cup dates, 24 days have programming in the Entertainment District, such as Texas Rangers games and concerts, he said.
“There’s going to be a lot of activity here in Arlington,” he said. “Very excited about those possibilities.”
Scott Nishimura is a senior editor for local government accountability and a Fort Worth City Hall reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Reach him at scott.nishimura@fortworthreport.org.
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