{"id":527977,"date":"2026-07-06T14:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T14:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/527977\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T14:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T14:22:16","slug":"they-had-hyped-us-up-so-much-seattle-businesses-near-world-cup-stadium-report-declining-sales-seattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/527977\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They had hyped us up so much\u2019: Seattle businesses near World Cup stadium report declining sales | Seattle"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Seattle\u2019s month-long role as a host city for the Fifa Men\u2019s World Cup<\/a> draws to a close with a knockout match between the United States and Belgium, local match-day scenes, business boosters and media dispatches have projected an image of a sports-fueled boom town.<\/p>\n

On match days, hordes of locals and visitors have packed the city\u2019s waterfront and official watch parties, shattering public-transit records<\/a> and buoying nearby beer sales<\/a>. Local soccer-focused mainstays like the George & Dragon Pub<\/a> have reported \u201cincredible\u201d increases in business. And, pointing to positive reporting by the Guardian<\/a> and other<\/a> international newspapers, Seattle\u2019s business lobby says<\/a> the city has \u201cperformed very, very well on the world stage\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the effects \u2013 and extent \u2013 of Seattle\u2019s Fifa-fueled boom are murky. Some preliminary reports<\/a> claim tourism volumes to the city are down year over year, struggling to outmatch the volume of visitors Seattle typically sees during its summer high season. Travel costs have spiked<\/a> after the US-Israeli war on Iran<\/a>, exacerbated by Fifa\u2019s booking<\/a> large tranches of hotel rooms, which created artificial scarcity for lodgings and raised prices. Many international visitors, including the city\u2019s once-reliable base of Canadian tourists, have steered clear<\/a> of Seattle since early 2025, after violent, draconian immigration<\/a> enforcement and threats<\/a> by Donald Trump against Canada. And, prior to today\u2019s match, Seattle\u2019s schedule featured many countries whose fans couldn\u2019t attend the World Cup because of the Trump administration\u2019s travel bans<\/a>, including supporters from Iran and Senegal.<\/p>\n

Soccer fans protesting against Iran\u2019s current regime wave the country\u2019s Pahlavi dynasty flag outside a bar near Seattle Stadium on 26 June. Photograph: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Pointing to these factors and confronting local economic challenges such as an ongoing wave of tech layoffs<\/a>, some business owners have reported declining sales and question the cheery forecasts shared by tournament organizers prior to the World Cup. They await a final tally of the tourist volumes and benefits Fifa did or did not bring to Seattle, and wonder how the city\u2019s economy might fare once the alleged boom subsides.<\/p>\n

\u2018They had hyped us up so much\u2019<\/p>\n

In early 2025, Vince Vu, owner of Anh \u01a0i Bake Shop<\/a>, a Vietnamese American bakery, began receiving flyers and messages from consultants associated with the World Cup and city government. Seattle\u2019s soccer stadium directly adjoins the city\u2019s downtown core, as well as the Chinatown-International District, and draws large crowds to the area on match days. The consultants explained to Vu and other businesses in the area how they should prepare for a Fifa-induced flux of customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had hyped us up so much,\u201d Vu said. \u201cWe had weekly meetings telling us, \u2018Hey \u2026 make sure you\u2019re going to double your staff and \u2026 double your inventory and do all this stuff, because [the World Cup<\/a> is] going to be this great thing for the city.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The regional tourism board Visit Seattle<\/a> initially forecast in 2024 that Seattle\u2019s status as a World Cup host city would generate $929m in local economic activity; citing downturns in international travel to the US following Trump\u2019s return to the presidency, Visit Seattle later revised its estimate to $845.6m, projecting a total count of 750,000 visitors over the course of the World Cup.<\/p>\n

In the tournament\u2019s opening days, Bloomberg reported<\/a> that Seattle may be the only US host city to have seen a year-over-year decline in flight bookings, citing data<\/a> from travel marketing platform Sojern. More recent data complicates that conclusion; Perry Cooper, a spokesperson for Seattle\u2019s primary airport, said that Seattle has been \u201cup in travelers\u201d since the start of the World Cup by at least 3%, including a 4% year-over-year increase in international visitors.<\/p>\n

Fans gather at bars before the Fifa World Cup 2026 Group D match between USA and Australia at Seattle Stadium 19 June. Photograph: Jane Gershovich\/ISI Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Siddhant Bahadur, who manages more than 40 short-term rentals in Seattle<\/a>, said business has been fairly flat compared with last year\u2019s summer high season for tourism. He thinks the city\u2019s marginal increases in travel volumes during the World Cup are a \u201ctelling sign\u201d that tourism to the city is otherwise down due to economic and geopolitical challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we lost a lot of Canadians, and I think people are worried about the economy and about what\u2019s going on in Washington, and, oh, by the way, we\u2019re at war,\u201d echoed short-term rental owner Marlow Harris, who said she\u2019s seen a 30% hit to business.<\/p>\n

In an emailed statement, Visit Seattle\u2019s chief business officer, Kelly Saling, said declines in international tourism since 2024 have been \u201cpartially offset\u201d by an increase in domestic tourism, meaning the city has not seen a \u201cdrop in forecasted visitors, just a change in the mix\u201d. Local hotels have reported<\/a> mixed results, with lower occupancy rates than projected, but with large increases in revenue; Fifa booked<\/a> large blocks of hotel rooms before the World Cup and released them in the weeks leading up to the tournament, generating artificial scarcity and raising prices, according to local business leaders. Saling said hotel booking data has shown \u201cpeaks and valleys\u201d around match days, which included a new revenue record on the night preceding the 19 June match between the US and Australia.<\/p>\n

To Vu, the World Cup\u2019s peaks have coincided with Anh \u01a0i Bake Shop\u2019s lowest sales. When the US squared off against the Socceroos, Vu\u2019s business saw just a quarter of its normal sales. Vu said other neighborhood businesses have reported similarly disappointing results: Regular patrons have avoided the neighborhood on match days to avoid traffic, he noted, adding that sports tourists may not be interested in \u201cculturally specific businesses\u201d.<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | Every day<\/p>\n

Sign up to Headlines US<\/p>\n

Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Soccer fans crowd in to watch the Iran and Egypt match on a giant screen on 26 June. Photograph: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Seattle aquarium<\/a> has also reported a downturn, despite its location on Seattle\u2019s currently sports fan-saturated waterfront. Emily Malone, a spokesperson for the aquarium, noted a \u201cdecrease in attendance\u201d during the tournament, \u201cparticularly on match days\u201d. The aquarium has offered promotions for visitors wearing soccer gear, as well as free programs on the waterfront. Overlook Walk, a public park situated on the roof of Seattle Aquarium\u2019s recently constructed pavilion, has drawn large crowds during World Cup watch parties<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A mixed financial picture, but optimism that visitors will return<\/p>\n

Scott Stulen, director and CEO of the Seattle Art Museum<\/a>, began planning for the World Cup in 2024, and expected an uneven increase in footfall across its three locations. The museum\u2019s free sculpture garden along the waterfront received new signage before the World Cup, and currently features<\/a> a temporary mini-golf course designed by local artists. The sculpture garden has seen its foot traffic more than double, while visitor numbers to its downtown museum have stayed \u201cbasically flat\u201d, as Stulen anticipated.<\/p>\n

Some variables could not be planned in advance. Seattle\u2019s group-stage matchups \u201cweren\u2019t ideal\u201d, Stulen said, as the city missed out on fanbases that \u201cstay a little bit longer\u201d in host cities. Some World Cup organizers see<\/a> a handful of teams \u2013 Argentina, England and France, among others \u2013 as special catalysts of economic activity, featuring dedicated fanbases with the financial means to stay longer in host cities.<\/p>\n

Seattle\u2019s organizers also expected World Cup activity to \u201cspread into the city a little bit more than it has\u201d, though bars and restaurants are \u201ckilling it\u201d if they\u2019re located \u201cin the right place\u201d, Stulen said, framing the \u201cpositive activity\u201d in downtown Seattle as \u201ca win\u201d.<\/p>\n

US fans march together to the Seattle Stadium before the Fifa World Cup 2026 Group D match between USA and Australia on 19 June. Photograph: Jane Gershovich\/ISI Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Even marginal increases in sales can make a meaningful difference for local businesses preparing to weather future economic volatility, according to Daniel Pagard, who owns the George & Dragon Pub, a local British bar known for screening Premier League games and other international matches. Recent tech layoffs have affected some locals\u2019 finances, and businesses are beginning to note the downstream effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou definitely see a lot of it when people come out,\u201d Pagard said. \u201cInstead of maybe getting two half English breakfasts, they\u2019re splitting one full English, because it saves them a few bucks, and [they\u2019re] turning down that one extra pint before they leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seattle\u2019s business lobby hopes visitors \u2013 and major tournaments \u2013 will come back. According to Joe Nguy\u1ec5n, a former lawmaker who now leads the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce<\/a>, Seattle\u2019s business lobby hosted a trade delegation from Australia during the 19 June match, and expects some foreign direct investment to arise from that initiative. More broadly, he said Seattle has shown it is capable of hosting large-scale sports programming, and can efficiently deploy resources to accommodate large influxes of visitors.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s match against Belgium may be the \u201ccraziest sporting event that Seattle\u2019s probably ever seen\u201d, he said. Nguy\u1ec5n hopes the World Cup will bring the city closer to some of its ambitious goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of our remoteness in the north-west corner, people oftentimes will skip over us on their tours. Now they\u2019ll think twice \u2026 I think the NFL will look to here to see if they should have some games, [and] I think this is helpful for us bringing back a basketball team<\/a>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Seattle\u2019s month-long role as a host city for the Fifa Men\u2019s World Cup draws to a close…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-527977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}