The World Cup only comes around every four years and regularly draws millions of spectators from across the globe.
But expectations of a rush of international visitors and an accompanying economic boon — an estimated $3.5 billion in Texas — are being tempered in Houston and Dallas, where 16 games will be played in June and July.
FIFA, the governing body for international soccer, canceled hotel block reservations in Dallas and Arlington earlier this year and a recent survey of hoteliers in Houston and the Dallas area found anticipated demand is not translating into strong hotel bookings less than 40 days from the start of the tournament.
Expensive ticket prices, trouble getting travel visas and anti-American sentiment amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty may all be contributing to the underwhelming demand for stays during the tournament, said Brent DeRaad, president and CEO of the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“There certainly are not only economic headwinds but certainly … sentiments toward the U.S. by some countries out there internationally, it’s potentially an issue in terms of people being able and willing to travel to the United States for these matches,” DeRaad said.
While Dallas is considered the host city by FIFA, Arlington’s AT&T Stadium will be the venue for nine matches and Houston’s NRG Stadium will host a further seven. Local officials say ticket sales remain strong and they expect each of the matches to be sold out.
That demand for tickets, however, may be largely domestic, according to a report published Monday by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, a trade association that represents more than 30,000 properties across the U.S. Ticket prices for the matches are significantly more expensive than the 2022 and 2018 iterations of the tournament, played in Qatar and Russia, respectively, pricing out international tourists.
Bob Heere, professor of sports management at the University of North Texas, said FIFA’s economic impact estimates are likely inflated if the wave of international visitors does not materialize as originally anticipated.
“Any good economic impact study does not include locals because, indeed, they are, regardless, spending their money here, aside from the fact that they’re not booking hotels, they’re less likely to go out for dinner three times,” Heere said. “So their spending is a lot less, but any spending locally does not contribute to economic impact.”
The U.S. was the only major nation to register a decline in tourism in 2025, and officials are worried that trend could carry through to the World Cup.
Research firm Tourism Economics projects that more than 1.2 million international visitors will travel to the United States for the World Cup, but in April, the firm also tempered its expectations for the rate of recovery from last year’s dip in tourism.
In Dallas and Houston, 70% of respondents reported booking pace below World Cup expectations and largely in line with a typical June and July, “pointing to a limited incremental lift from the tournament,” according to the report.
FIFA expects to generate $11 billion in profits from the 39-day tournament, being played across 16 host cities — 11 in the U.S., three in Mexico and two in Canada. Those host cities and their local organizing committees, however, are footing much of the bill to retrofit their stadiums for soccer games, provide security, organize fan festivals and improve local infrastructure to accommodate the fans.
While FIFA is paying to rent AT&T and NRG stadiums for the matches, the cities otherwise receive little revenue directly from the tournament. They do not get a piece of ticket sales, concessions, merchandise or parking.
FIFA points to the economic benefits each city is expected to receive from hosting matches as justification for the costs. A March 2025 study by FIFA claimed the tournament will generate $17.2 billion in gross domestic product in the U.S. and $3.4 billion in government revenue from direct and indirect taxes.
The American Hotel & Lodging Association study found that domestic travelers are outpacing international travelers. The study noted that international travel barriers, like lengthy visa wait times, increased visa fees and uncertainty around entry and processing, are contributing to international travel not meeting expectations. The cancellation of hotel blocks in Dallas, Arlington and other host cities has exposed a “softer underlying traveler demand,” according to the report.
Across the country, about 70% of FIFA’s group blocks have been released, according to the report, which did not provide city-level data.
“Hotels across host markets have spent years preparing for the World Cup, and while there is real excitement, the data points to a more nuanced outlook,” Rosanna Maietta, President & CEO of AHLA, said in a statement.
In Houston, organizers remain optimistic that the city will see a significant increase in visitors from previous years.
“We expect that World Cup will help deliver a better than normal June and early July in the Houston hotel market,” Michael Heckman, President and CEO of Houston First Corporation, wrote in a statement. “Bookings are up year over year and we anticipate they will continue to climb as we get closer to the tournament.”
Houston First Corporation, Houston’s official destination marketing organization, published its own tracker of domestic and international travel tied to the tournament that found booking pace in the city up 17% in June and 14% in July when compared to the same months last year. International air bookings through Bush Intercontinental Airport and Hobby Airport are up 33% in June but down 5% in July, according to Houston First.
The local host committees in Dallas and Houston also note that low hotel bookings could be offset by short-term rentals.
Short-term rental bookings are up 53% in the Houston area from last year for June and July, according to Houston First.
Heere said factors like the popularity of national teams playing, things for tourists to do outside of match days and ease of navigating the city could explain why Houston might expect a higher turnout than Dallas’ games in Arlington.
In Arlington, DeRaad said he still expects to see hotel revenue be up 10% to 15% from last year but noted that comes with tradeoffs. Convention activity that would typically be occurring during the tournament is being crowded out and leisure travelers that may otherwise have visited could skip out this year amid the tournament, DeRaad said.
“You’re trading some of that business for the FIFA impacts, but we still feel like, even with that being the case, that hotel revenue should be up,” DeRaad said.
Heere, who hails from the Netherlands, has experienced firsthand the depressed international interest in traveling to the U.S. for the tournament. The UNT professor pointed to a building anti-American sentiment in Europe due to efforts under President Donald Trump to leave the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance, efforts to acquire Greenland from Denmark and rising energy costs due to the U.S. war with Iran.
Heere was given a larger allocation of tickets for AT&T Stadium’s June 14 group stage game between the Netherlands and Japan with the goal of inviting a group of Dutch companies to come along for a VIP trip.
“To my surprise, we have not been able to sell those tickets yet in the Netherlands because people are not excited about the United States right now, nor are they excited about the prices,” Heere said.
Disclosure: Houston First and University of North Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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