More than a million soccer fans are expected to visit the Tri-State area this summer for the 2026 World Cup, and some homeowners in New Jersey are cashing in on the event by listing their homes on rental sites like Airbnb.

As for people in New York City, they’ll likely miss out on the quick infusion of cash. City Council leaders and Mayor Zohran Mamdani are refusing to lift restrictions on short-term rentals for the tournament because they want to maintain housing stability, and experts say that’s a missed opportunity for the local economy.

This year’s FIFA World Cup is expected to bring more than a million soccer fans to New Jersey and New York City. With it will come a booming economic opportunity for tourism, and a chance to loosen rules for Airbnb to allow homeowners in New York City to cash in.

“Our recommendation is to loosen the restrictions on short-term rentals for that one month so that, you know, people can make some money by utilizing their homes where they want to and the city can make some more tax dollars,” said Partnership for New York City CEO Steven Fulop.

Fulop’s business advocacy group is part of a coalition asking New York City to allow Airbnb to break back into the city’s market after a 2023 law called Local Law 18, which largely killed the home rental market in all five boroughs by strictly regulating any rentals under 30 days.

“I think the short-term rental laws were put in place to protect affordability of housing,” Fulop said. “So, you don’t want people buying all these homes and then just putting them on the short-term rental market. And I agree with that. Ultimately, we have an affordability crisis, but we’re talking about one month, and I think that the job of the City Council is to make sure that there’s barriers set up so that it’s only that one month.”

The latest bill to reverse the regulations would have allowed single-family homes to be rented without the host present, and increased cap on guests from two to four.

City Council quickly shut down the request, citing that even temporarily, it would undermine housing stability.

On Thursday, Mayor Mamdani agreed.

“I continue to maintain the position that I’ve had, which is that we have to ensure that we allow New York City’s homes to remain as homes and not become hotels, and that we have hotels for exactly that purpose,” Mamdani said.

Opposition aside, there’s also a looming strike of hotel workers, with their union contract set to expire during the World Cup.

“I think there is a lot of influence from hotel advocacy groups, which I’m sympathetic to, and I think they do a great job,” Fulop said. “But in this particular situation, the hotels will be at 100% capacity. So, they’re not going to lose any business, and we’re not talking about a long-term correction of the short-term rental market. We’re talking about a short-term correction to the short-term rental market.”

An Airbnb representative says the company is not directly backing the new bill.

More flexible Airbnb rentals will be available across the Hudson River in New Jersey.

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