Over the weekend, FIFA released the schedule for the group stage of the 2026 World Cup, setting the stage for hoteliers in each of the 16 North American host markets to start their planning for the matches and providing some clarity into potential knockout-stage matchups.
While hoteliers had the Dec. 5 tournament draw circled on their calendars, there hasn't necessarily been a huge increase in demand since the schedule was solidified.
Joe Imbrogno, general manager at the Reverb Downtown Atlanta, said the pace of forward bookings has increased since Saturday, but there are still quite a few open rooms at his property during the duration of the World Cup group stage. The Reverb Downtown Atlanta is directly across the street from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which will host five group-stage matches between June 15-27.
Atlanta will play host to two of Spain's group stage matches: against Cape Verde on June 15 and Saudi Arabia on June 21. Spain is expected to have one of the largest traveling fanbases among the qualified countries.
"We didn't see a big [impact]. The floodgates didn't open and all of a sudden we're sold out. We're not there yet," Imbrogno said.
In New York City, it's been the same story. Rosario Bianchi, general manager of the AC Hotel New York Downtown, said East Rutherford, New Jersey — which is a train ride from the city — "got some really good powerhouses and some of the heavy hitters" and he "really like[s] the draw of this World Cup."
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford will also host five group stage matches between June 13-27. Brazil, Germany, France and England will all play a match apiece at the home of the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets.
Despite this favorable draw, Bianchi said there wasn't any significant shift in hotel demand or bookings for those weeks after the World Cup schedule dropped.
"I don't think you see the majority of the bookings very much in the short term. I think they'll come probably in more or less the first quarter, where you'll see most everyone making their plans, trying to get through the year," he said.
Harry Carr, senior vice president of revenue management at Pivot Hotels & Resorts — the lifestyle hotel operating vehicle of Davidson Hospitality Group — said he's expecting a mix of matches with some incredible demand and some with much lower demand.
"Most of our markets look like, I'm going to call it feast or famine, and we're going to have to look at those dates to see if there's demand for what soccer fans call 'neutral fans,'" he said.
Similarly, Pivot's hotels saw a surge in hotel demand over the weekend but not huge numbers, Carr said. The company still doesn't have a great gauge of demand yet for the group-stage matches, but the games during the knockout round are what he and most other hoteliers will be really paying close attention to.
The lack of forward bookings in light of the World Cup schedule release wasn't necessarily surprising given the price points at Pivot's locations, Carr said. There will likely be a pickup throughout this week as fans finalize their travel plans and actually purchase a ticket to a match.
This will be the largest World Cup yet, with 48 teams playing 104 matches. The sheer amount of teams and matches could actually be a drawback on demand in each host market, Carr said.
"It feels like the larger pool of teams is making the matches maybe more accessible but less impactful to the cities," he said.
The results of the draw haven't changed Pivot's approach to capturing demand, but it's made the goal more clear, Carr said.
"It clarified our strategy that we need to build more base. It's not going to be the game days. It's going to be who can fill their hotel for the most days between June 15 and July 15," he said. "We need length of stay to be successful. We can't be full for two days around a match and then sitting at 30% occupancy because nothing's going on."
Other markets to watch
Markets hosting matches with the host country involved — United States, Canada and Mexico — are likely to see a surge in domestic demand. Los Angeles will host two of the United States group matches on June 12 and June 25, and Seattle will host the third match on June 19.
Vancouver will host two of Canada's group matches on June 18 and June 24, and Toronto will host the other Canada match on June 12. Mexico City will host two of Mexico's group matches on June 11 and June 24, and Guadalajara will host Mexico vs. South Korea on June 18.
Carr said Dallas is a standout market in regard to the draw. It will host Argentina for two group stage matches and England for another.
Most markets received at least one match with a marquee team likely to boost hotel performance.
Get out your crystal balls: Potential in knockout stage matches
It's far too soon to make any predictions on how the World Cup's group stage will shake out, but the release of the draw has shed some light on some potential dream matchups in the knockout stage, which begins on June 28.
For example, Philadelphia could see a matchup between Germany and France in the round of 16, Miami could get a Brazil and Mexico or England matchup in the quarterfinals, and Kansas City could see a showdown between two of the greatest players in the history of the sport in the quarterfinals with Lionel Messi's Argentina against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal.
Those matchups are fun to dream about, but there's still a lot of soccer ahead for those scenarios to play out. The knockout-stage matches, however, will be the ones with the biggest impact to hotel demand.
"We're going to focus a little bit more on the knockout stages," Carr said.
Similarly to the group-stage matches, there hasn't been much pickup yet in hotel demand for the knockout stage.
Imbrogno said the majority of forward bookings Reverb Downtown Atlanta has received are for the group stage, as all knockout stage matchups are simply hypotheticals right now. But that doesn't mean it's not front of mind.
"We're excited to see who's going to play in the knockout rounds, in the semifinal. The semifinal is going to be a big day right here for Atlanta," he said.
East Rutherford will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup final on July 19. There isn't much precedent for an event such as the World Cup — not even America's biggest sporting event.
"The last big [sporting] event we had was a Super Bowl, and that's not nearly as large as what this is," Bianchi said. "This is definitely on a different scale."