Cincinnati remains on the short list to serve as a Host City for World Cup 2026, the world’s largest and most watched sporting event. The Bid Effort is a regional collaborative among local and state government, police and fire officials and leaders from local business and non-profits.

Here is how hosting World Cup 2026 would impact the Greater Cincinnati area.

Economic Impact of World Cup 2026: $5 billion

Super Bowl Economic Impact: Ranges from $300 million to $500 million

Hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup™ could generate more than $5 billion in short-term economic activity, including supporting approximately 40,000 jobs and more than $1 billion in incremental worker earnings across North America, according to a study done by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a leading global management consulting firm.

Canada, Mexico and the United States are bidding to host the 48-team tournament in 2026, which will be the largest in FIFA World Cup™ history. The overall net benefit to the region would be $3 – $4 billion. The study further estimates that individual host cities could expect to see approximately $160 - $620 million in incremental economic activity. That translates to a net benefit of approximately $90 - $480 million per city after accounting for potential public costs.

According to FIFA, lthe 2018 World Cup final between France and Croatia reached an average live audience of 517 million viewers, with more than 1.1 billion people tuning in over its 90 minutes. The 2019 Super Bowl pales in comparison, having had an average viewership of 98 million in the U.S. plus an estimated 50 to 65 million around the world.

Global Media Exposure of World Cup: 1.1 billion

Audience Viewership of the Super Bowl: 98 million

Boosting Long-term Tourism by Raising the Profile of Cincinnati

In 2018, Russia has hosted more than 700,000 foreign soccer fans during the World Cup tournament, spread over 11 cities including Moscow, St Petersburg and Sochi. Future tourism estimates that visitors to World Cup host cities in Russia may increase as much as 15 percent year over year.