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c/news · by technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 48d

FIFA - Not U.S. Economy - Is Big World Cup Winner So Far

https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2026/07/14/fifa-world-cup-winner-not-us-economy/

  • While the World Cup group stage (June 11-27) was taking place, overall international arrivals to the U.S. in June were essentially flat (+0.2%) compared to a year ago, according to data from the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) in the Commerce Department.
  • Arrivals in June were down year over year from Europe (-1.2%) and Asia (-5.6%), two regions that consistently dominate overseas arrivals, while arrivals were up from lower-volume regions: Africa (+13.8%) and South America (+4.7%), according to NTTO data.
  • Hotels in World Cup host cities raised room rates, but did not see an increase in occupancy or room demand, according to CoStar, the industry benchmarking and analytics firm.
  • A FIFA analysis predicted the World Cup would inject $30.5 billion into the U.S. economy—but its calculation counted on a huge influx of international fans, who spend much more per person than U.S.-based fans.
  • FIFA is set to take in $9 billion in revenue, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence.
98 points · 10 comments · view on lemmy.world

10 Comments

dreksob@feddit.online · 40 pts · 48d (3 replies)

Wait,

You mean to tell me the incredibly corrupt FIFA bribed the incredibly corrupt president to steal billions of dollars from the American Public?

Who could possibly have seen this coming?

Burninator05@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 48d (2 replies)

FIFA is a piece of shit organization and deserves a lot of blame for a lot of things but I'm not sure it deserves all the blame for this one. They aren't the ones that ruined pretty much every international relationship the US had or created an environment where anyone who isn't both a US citizen and white should be worried about being ISE'd. FIFA just encouraged it with their "Peace Prize".

magnue@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 48d

Yeah imagine a US world cup in the Obama days. I'd have been hyped. On the contrary I did as much as I could to avoid this one, and I've watched euros/world cups quite closely my whole life.

dreksob@feddit.online · 3 pts · 47d

I mean.

FIFA knew what was going to happen, they bribed Trump specifically to let it happen.

If you build your house next to a Data center, don't blame the data center when your Electricity bill is massive, you have no water and you cant cool down your house. You knew the data center was there before you started building.

Lydon_Feen@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 48d (4 replies)

Only idiots still believe hosting big international events like the World Cup, the Euro cup, or the Olympics, are anything but a ruinous undertaking for the hosting nation(s)

Hegar@fedia.io · 1 pts · 48d (3 replies)

Big events like that are not about profit though. They're really about buying prestige, which remains more valuable than profit.

Just that in our culture profit is like the only acceptable justification for doing a thing though so it's hard for people to talk about a thing being worthwhile if it doesn't make money.

tal@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 48d

Big events like that are not about profit though. They're really about buying prestige, which remains more valuable than profit.

Ehh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Correctional_Institution,_Ray_Brook

The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee needed congressional approval for funding to build an Olympic Village for the 1980 Winter Olympics. Congress required an after-use contract for facilities, and Lake Placid's congressman Robert C. McEwen considered the possibilities of having it be repurposed as housing, a hospital, or a permanent athletic facility, but these plans all failed to materialize. As McEwen searched for possibilities, he learned that Norman Carlson of the Federal Bureau of Prisons has congressional approval to build a prison in the Northeastern United States. It was ultimately agreed to create the Village with the goal of repurposing it as a prison.[1][2]

At the time of construction, the Olympic Village had 937 small cells, each holding between 2 and 4 athletes. The majority of rooms had one barred window, although some had no windows at all, and they had heavy steel doors with peepholes for use by guards after conversion to a functional prison. The Village was surrounded by concentric chain fences. The fences were sensitized and sounded alarms if touched. The only entrance to the village was a surveilled double gate. The village saw widespread condemnation from International Olympic Committees, and multiple countries sought to rent housing in other locations. While National Olympic Committees typically need to pay on their own if they choose to find new accommodation, IOC Director Monique Berlioux said, "This time the accommodations are so poor that delegations will not have to pay for them if they move somewhere else."[3]

The delegations of Sweden, Italy, Austria, East Germany, West Germany, and other countries sought alternative accommodations. This created an unexpected boom in the local real estate market, increasing rent in some areas from US$200 (equivalent to $781.5 in 2025) to US$4,000 (equivalent to $15,630 in 2025).

Lydon_Feen@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 48d (1 reply)

Fuck prestige.

If it doesn't turn a profit or at least breaks even, it's pointless and literally a way for FIFA, UEFA, or the IOC to make a killing.

Everybody else gets fucked and left with the bill

Hegar@fedia.io · 2 pts · 48d

Oh of course. But "Everybody else gets fucked and left with the bill" is the case with everything a nation-state does. Thats like the whole point.

kreskin@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 38d

we should be bombing FIFA headquarters instead of iran.